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ZIMBABWE clinched their maiden T20I cricket series win over a higher-ranked side when they beat Bangladesh by 10 runs in the third game at Harare Sports Club yesterday.

A 79-run seventh-wicket partnership between Ryan Burl and Luke Jongwe proved crucial as Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh to win a Twenty20 international series between the countries for the first time.

The change in fortunes after 3-0 T20 and one-day international whitewashes at home to Afghanistan coincided with the appointment of former star Dave Houghton as Zimbabwe’s national coach.

The home side roused a full-house crowd by lifting themselves from 67 for 6 to finish on a competitive 156 for 8, before restricting Bangladesh to 146 for 8 in 20 overs.

Zimbabwe had only recently won the T20 World Cup qualifier. They beat West Indies in a one-off match in 2010, toppled Scotland 2-1 in 2021 and won a tri-nation tournament in Singapore also featuring Nepal three years ago.

But this marks their first ever series win over a Full Member in bilateral short-form cricket.

With his side hanging by a thread at 76 for 6, Burl took 34 runs off Nasum Ahmed in the 15th over, equalling the second-most runs taken in a T20I over. He is no stranger to big overs against Bangladesh, having struck 30 runs off a Shakib Al Hasan in an over, three years ago.

In the end, Burl and Jongwe’s 79 runs in 5.1 overs even found a place in the record books.

No team in the history of T20Is has had their seventh wicket pair come in at such a low score (67 for 6) and make at least 50 runs at such a high strike-rate.

Bangladesh never recovered from the big hitting as they lost three early wickets, and then went through 49 balls without hitting a single boundary. But they also missed a few tricks, starting from the first over.

Burl, who was named man-of-the-match, hit Ahmed for 34 runs in an over yesterday.

Burl smashed five sixes in a 34-run over. In the 15th over of the innings bowled by Ahmed, Burl hit four successive sixes followed by a four and a six to take 34 runs in the over, the joint-second most runs scored in an over in men’s T20Is. The first six disappeared over long-on while the next three were also smashed on the leg-side. He missed a big one off the fifth with the ball bouncing once before hitting the ropes. Off the last ball, he cleared long-off to complete a stunning over for Zimbabwe.

Yuvraj Singh and Kieron Pollard hold the record for the most runs in an over (36) in men’s T20Is after recording six sixes against Stuart Broad and Akila Dananjaya respectively.

Tim Seifert and Ross Taylor hit 34 runs in an over off Shivam Dube in 2020. Burl equalled this tally with his incredible hitting at Harare Sports Club yesterday.

However, Burl also broke his own record for most runs in an over by a Zimbabwe batter. He had earlier hit Shakib Al Hasan for 30 runs in an over in a T20I in Mirpur in 2019. Then, Burl hit three sixes and three fours off Shakib in the 16th over of the innings.

Burl was over the moon following his laterst remarkable achievement yesterday.

“Losing a few wickets early on wasn’t ideal but we got some depth in our line-up and we were confident. We just had to trust the process, you know they unsettled us early but we were positive and we took positive action,” Burl said as he received his man-of-the-match award. Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza added: “We got enough to win the match from any situation. We were not short of quality in the changing room. It is always important that one of us raises their hand and leads from the front.”

Bangladesh missed an early trick when Mosaddek Hossain didn’t repeat what he had done in the previous game. Opening the bowling, the part-timer Mosaddek took five wickets in an unbroken first spell, including two wickets in the first over. In this game however, Bangladesh started with Mustafizur Rahman, who conceded a four off the first ball.

Mahedi Hasan and Mosaddek then went on to concede 8 and 15 off the next two overs, including two fours and a six. Mosaddek perhaps saw his five-for as a one-off, but it wouldn’t have been a huge loss to start the innings with the offspinner. Luckily, Nasum got Bangladesh the early breakthrough in the fourth over, when he had Regis Chakabva caught trying to clear the cover fielder.

Mahedi’s double-strike in the sixth over gave the visitors further control. He removed both Wessly Madhevere and Raza off consecutive deliveries. Raza, the in-form batter with two 60-plus scores in the previous games, top-edged a sweep, after Mahedi had yorked Madhevere. Mosaddek and Mahmudullah then removed Sean Williams and Craig Ervine in consecutive overs. Williams struck one down deep midwicket’s throat after making just two runs, while captain Ervine was stumped off Mahmudullah even though wicketkeeper Anamul Haque fumbled the ball initially. Milton Shumba was Zimbabwe’s sixth wicket when he was caught behind off Mustafizur, this time however Anamul taking a stunning catch.

Zimbabwe’s precarious position at 67 for 6 didn’t stop Jongwe from hitting Hasan Mahmud for two fours in the 14th over, although the second one was a gift from sweeper Afif Hossain who let it slip between his legs. Then came the monster over as Burl smashed Nasum for five sixes and a four. He slammed one over long-on to begin the over, before hurling the left-arm spinner over the square leg boundary for three more sixes. Under pressure to avoid another six, Nasum slid in a faster ball but Burl was up to it, hammering him for a straight four. Burl then took Nasum over long-off for the fifth six, pumping his fist as he changed the course of the match.

Jongwe followed it up with two fours in the next over, before both batters hit a six each off Mahedi’s 17th over. Jongwe then struck his second six when he deposited Mustafizur high over long-on.

Burl has now been involved in five out of the six occasions that a Zimbabwe pair has added 75-plus runs for the seventh wicket or lower.

Mahmud stopped the battering in the 19th over when he had Jongwe skying to cover for 35, before Burl spliced one down to long-on where Litton Das took a simple catch. He broke his second bat in the match, with the lower part coming off as he tried to get under the delivery.

After going for 79 runs for the previous five overs, Mahmud and Mustafizur kept Zimbabwe quiet in the last two overs, giving away only 10 runs. After Mahmud’s double-strike, Mustafizur conceded six runs in the final over, although he too could have got a wicket had Afif held an easy chance from Brad Evans.

Making his first appearance in the series, Victor Nyauchi removed both the Bangladesh openers Litton and debutant Parvez Hossain Emon in his first two overs. Litton struck one back at Nyauchi trying to turn his wrists on a length delivery, before Emon struck one to Shumba at mid-on.

Anamul was the next to go, missing a half-tracker from Madhevere, but the batter was again guilty of playing too safe in a T20 chase. Three early wickets allowed Zimbabwe to slow down the game, as Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mahmudullah added 26 runs at 5.57 per over, before the former scooped one into Jongwe’s hands at short fine-leg. Brought back for his third over, big Brad Evans removed both Mahmudullah and Mosaddek Hossain with shorter length deliveries. Mahmudullah nicked off as he tried to hammer the ball down the ground. It broke a promising fifth-wicket stand between Mahmudullah and Afif. Next ball, stop-gap captain Mosaddek had no clue against Evans’ bouncer, top-edging it to his helmet, and then into the wicketkeeper’s gloves. Raza then got into the act with two crucial catches. First, he grabbed Mahedi’s slog to deep midwicket after the allrounder had put up a brief resistance with his 17-ball 22. Then Raza took the catch at long-off when Hasan Mahmud hit one to him in the last over. Bangladesh were without captain and wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan due to a finger injury, which has also ruled him out of a three-match ODI series beginning in Harare on Friday.

Teams

ZIMBABWE: Regis Chakabva (wkt), Craig Ervine (capt), Wessly Madhevere, Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Milton Shumba, Ryan Burl, Luke Jongwe, John Masara, Victor Nyauchi, Brad Evans

BANGLADESH: Liton Das (wkt), Parvez Hossain Emon, Anamul Haque, Mahmudullah Riyad, Najmul Hossain, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain (capt), Mehidy Hasan, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasum Ahmed — ESPNCricinfo