Soumya Sarkar (68 off 49) held his nerves to drive Bangladesh past an imposing target to set up a series-clinching victory in Harare. Bangladesh chased down 194 with five wickets and four balls to spare.
Opting to bat, Zimbabwe got off to a brisk start. Tadiwanashe Marumani and Wesley Madhevere added 63 for the opening wicket in the Powerplay. Madhevere smashed five fours on the trot, off Taskin Ahmed in the fourth over.
Marumani was eventually dismissed on 27 by Mohammad Saifuddin. Regis Chakabva, next man in, did not take time to get his eyes in. He smashed three sixes early in his innings. He completed a hat-trick of sixes, when Nasum Ahmed came on to bowl the 11th over.
Madhevere, meanwhile, reached his second fifty of the series (54). Zimbabwe were 146/4 when he fell. With almost five overs remaining, they needed to someone to finish the innings on a high. Ryan Burl stood up to the occasion, smashing 31 in 15 balls to propel them to 193/5. Soumya Sarkar finished with 2-27.
Bangladesh did not have the best of starts. They lost Mohammad Naim in the third over. Shakib Al Hasan joined Sarkar, and the duo added 50 runs for the third wicket. Shakib made 25 off 13 before falling to Luke Jongwe. Sarkar then became Jongwe’s second victim, for 68.
Bangladesh still needed 61 runs from 27 balls. Mahmudullah stayed put, scoring 35 in 28 balls, and forging a 37-run stand with Shamim Hossain. Shamim smashed six fours en route a 15-ball 34 to see Bangladesh past the finishing line.
Brief scores: Zimbabwe 193/5 in 20 overs (Wesley Madhevere 54; Soumya Sarkar 2-19) lost to Bangladesh 194/5 in 19.2 overs (Soumya Sarkar 68; Blessing Muzarabani 2-27) by 5 wickets with 4 balls to spare. Player of the match: Soumya Sarkar.
Bangladesh won the series 2-1. Player of the Series: Soumya Sarkar