DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Shakib Al Hasan claimed 4-35 in his Twenty20 return as Bangladesh held off Zimbabwe by five runs on Friday.
Bangladesh lost 10 wickets for 42 runs after openers Tanzid Hasan and Soumya Sarkar combined for 101 runs.
Zimbabwe’s chase ended at 138 with four balls remaining.
Beside Shakib, who was playing his first T20 in 10 months, Mustafizur Rahman also returned to the side and grabbed 3-19 to help Pakistan take a 4-0 lead in the five-match series.
“When Shakib Al Hasan came into the side, he gave more confidence,” Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto said.
“The batting collapse was disappointing. The wicket was tricky but I think we should have batted a little bit more carefully.”
Made to bat first, Bangladesh seemed headed toward a big total when Tanzid and Soumya moved the scoreboard along fluently.
Tanzid’s team-high 52 off 37 balls with seven fours and one six was his second fifty of the series. Soumya, recovered from injury, hammered three fours and two sixes in his 34-ball 41.
Tanzid raised his fifty from 34 balls but his dismissal sparked the collapse after he skied a length delivery by fast bowler Luke Jongwe to the point region.
Jongwe, who had figures of 3-20 to become Zimbabwe’s leading wicket-taker in T20s with 64, struck again in the same over, trapping Soumya Sarkar.
Bangladesh folded sensationally to be all out in the 20th over. Only Towhid Hridoy also reached double digits.
But Zimbabwe batters crumbled yet again under sustained pressure.
“From the bowling point of view we were fantastic but the batting unit keeps letting us down,” Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza said.
“We lose a cluster of wickets. We lose one, two, three wickets then build a 30-run partnership then we lose two, three wickets again.”
Fast bowler Taskin Ahmed (2-20) struck in the first over to hand Brian Bennett a four-ball duck, and dismissed Raza for 17 in his second over.
Jonathon Campbell resisted with support from Ryan Burl and briefly revived the visitors’ hopes.
But Mustazifur’s introduction was impactful. His cutter removed Burl (19) and Jongwe (1) in a three-ball span.
Campbell’s team-best 31 pushed Zimbabwe close but Shakib took two wickets in the last over when the visitors needed 14 runs for a victory.
The last match is on Sunday.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket