Harare (Zimbabwe): An audacious innings of 89 by diminutive batsman Stuart Matsikenyere enabled Zimbabwe to secure an unlikely victory over Bangladesh in the first One-Day International on Saturday.
Bangladesh scored 246-7 in its 50 overs and had Zimbabwe reeling on 50-4 after 15 overs.
But the cavalier approach by Matsikenyere helped lift the home side to 248-8 with five balls to spare.
Zimbabwe leads 1-0 in the five-match series, and ruined Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore's predicted whitewash of the Zimbabweans.
After the match hundreds of fans spilled out of the stands to celebrate with the Zimbabwe players in the middle of the field.
In partnership with Elton Chigumbura, who made a pounding 70, Matsikenyere ran the Bangladeshis ragged. The pair put up 114 for the sixth wicket in a match-turning partnership.
It was Matsikenyere's and Chigumbura's fifth ODI half-centuries.
After Zimbabwe captain Prosper Utseya won the toss and sent the tourists in to bat, Shahriar Nafees and Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar helped Zimbabwe overcome a shaky beginning to set a fair challenge on a good batting strip.
Shahriar scored 78 in 116 balls, hitting a six and seven fours, while Bashar managed 40. They put on 71 for the fourth wicket. It was Shahriar's fifth half-century in One-Dayers.
The two batsmen needed to be circumspect after Bangladesh lost its first two wickets in the first six overs with only 16 on the scoreboard, Aftab Chuwdhury failing to score.
It was a promising beginning for the Zimbabweans. Tawanda Mupariwa did the damage with tight seamers and he took four wickets for 61 runs to be the home side's best bowler.
Later, Mohammad Rafique passed 1,000 ODI runs when he hit a breezy 39. He needs only nine wickets from the remainder of the tour to attain the double of 100 wickets and 1,000 runs and become the first Bangladeshi to reach the landmark.
Zimbabwe lost Chimunorwa Chibhabha, Vusi Sibanda, Piet Rinke and Brendan Taylor for only 50 runs in 15 overs and its task appeared hopeless.
Bangladesh was in cruising mode but that changed dramatically when Matsikenyere began lashing out and taking almost impossible singles.
The second match is scheduled for Sunday at Harare Sports Club.
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