Zimbabwe’s players celebrate with the series trophy after their victory during the third and final match of the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, yesterday.
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe: Vusi Sibanda’s second one-day century guided Zimbabwe to a rare series victory as they beat Bangladesh by seven wickets in yesterday’s third one-day international at Queens Sports Club.
Sibanda had passed fifty on 19 previous occasions and converted only one of those innings to three figures, but he made the most of two dropped catches to hit the winning runs and finish unbeaten on 103 not out with Zimbabwe having more than two overs to spare.
The result also prompted Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim to announce he was stepping down.
Having limited Bangladesh to 247 for nine in their 50 overs, Zimbabwe made a solid start to their reply as Sibanda put on 79 for the first wicket with Hamilton Masakadza, who made 41.
That was followed by a 56-run stand between Sibanda and Sikandar Raza, but when the pair became bogged down in the middle overs, Bangladesh hit back with a couple of wickets that left the match in the balance.
However Sibanda was joined by Sean Williams, who recorded his second consecutive half-century to finish unbeaten on 55 as Zimbabwe cruised home with 17 balls to spare.
“It wasn’t easy to get dropped from the team for the first ODI in the series, but obviously I had to keep my head up and concentrate on making the most of the chance when it came,” said Sibanda.
“I hope this is the beginning of more hundreds to come.”
AFP
