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ZIMBABWE cricket team skipper Graeme Cremer blamed lack of game time after the Chevrons produced a woeful batting performance to lose the opening match of the triangular series to hosts Bangladesh by eight wickets at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium yesterday.

The Chevrons got off to the worst possible start after losing two quick wickets in the first over, which set the tone for a miserable outing as they were bundled out for 170 in 49 overs.

Bangladesh had no problems chasing down the target as they comfortably coasted to 172/2 in 28.3 overs, thanks to opener Tamim Iqbal’s 84.

Zimbabwe struggled to deal with Bangladesh’s consistent bowling. Bangladesh’s veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan took the new ball and immediately put the visitors under pressure by removing Solomon Mire and Craig Ervine.

Mire was stumped after he was left overbalanced by a leg-side wide while Ervine chipped a catch to short midwicket. Hamilton Masakadza and Brendon Taylor then nicked off to the wicketkeeper, leaving the side at 51 for 4.

Malcolm Waller was dropped twice — on 4 and 13 — before edging to slip off Sunzamul Islam for 13. Zimbabwe’s top scorer Sikandar Raza then arrested the slide with a 50-run partnership with Peter Moor.

Raza (52) batted slowly as Zimbabwe tried to last the full fifty overs but he fell to a mix-up in the 40th, after hitting two fours and two sixes for his ninth ODI half century.

Moor and Graeme Cremer then added 30 more to the total before Zimbabwe lost their last three wickets for nine runs. Rubel Hossain dismissed Moor and Tendai Chatara off successive balls before Mustafizur bowled Muzarabani to wrap up the innings in 49 overs.

Shakib took three wickets, including two in the first over of the match, while seamers Mustafizur, Rubel Hossain, and Mashrafe Mortaza picked up five wickets among them.

Cremer said Zimbabwe, who had not played ODIs since their historic win in Sri Lanka last July, are victims of a mean calendar. They play Sri Lanka in the next game of the series tomorrow at the same venue.

“Definitely not enough runs on the board. We didn’t mind batting first, but we needed 240. Raza was decent, so was PJ. The lack of ODI’s have hurt us a little, but we do have some experienced players. Guess it never helps when you don’t play enough.

“Sometimes it’s too late to learn in a short tournament like this. We are going to Dubai after this series, and then the World Cup Qualifiers at home.

“This is what we are looking ahead at. For the next game, we’ll look to get to 40-45 in the first ten overs and then see where we go from there. We’ll be better in the next game,” said Cremer.

Zimbabwe’s bowlers, on the other hand, struggled with their lines and lengths in the chase. Shakib and Tamim cashed in, adding 78 runs for the second wicket, after opener Anamul Haque, who was playing his first ODI since the 2015 World Cup, holed out for 19 off 14 balls.

Shakib was trapped lbw by Raza for 37, but Tamim and Mushfiqur completed the chase with an unbroken 63-run stand.

Shakib, batting at number three for only the third time in his ODI career, rotated the strike smartly and also hit five fours. He is set to play at number three in ODIs, starting with this tri-series.

He was hit on the pad in the 20th over, and umpire C Shamshuddin turned down the lbw appeal but had to eventually overturn it after a successful review from Zimbabwe.

Tamim had been given out caught behind by umpire Sharfuddoula in the previous over but he reviewed it and survived with replays showing no contact. It was eventually deemed a leg-side wide. Tamim continued to bat steadily and brought up his fifty off 66 balls. He then cut loose after the landmark and hastened Bangladesh’’s win. He struck eight fours and a six in his 93-ball knock.

Bangladesh, however, might be perturbed with Anamul’s dismissal. The returning opener tried one slog too many, and was caught at the edge of the mid-wicket boundary after having struck four breezy boundaries.

Zimbabwe’s bad day got worse when debutant Blessing Muzarabani bowled four no-balls in the 28th over. The chase was completed in the following over. — Sports Reporter/Cricinfo.