Bangladesh clinch T20I series amid last over drama against Zimbabwe

When the final over started, Bangladesh was in complete control: they needed five wickets, their leading scorer was still at the crease, and they had six wickets left. But a rush of blood took over: Mosaddek Hossain lost his stumps trying to smack a yorker, and Saifuddin followed him next ball by miscuing a needless hoick. It suddenly came down to the four required in three. Evans was on a hat-trick. Moment later, he was dead-certain he had it, when he pinned Mahedi Hasan in front, but the umpire had already begun signalling a dead ball moments before Evans released it. The reason: one of the fielders at the back was moving during delivery, called a "rookie error" by the commentators. An aghast Evans tried to contest it with the umpire, but Bangladesh had made a lucky escape. Mahedi clanked the next ball - a full-toss - over covers, and roared in celebration, getting into a heated exchange with Evans that brought a sour end to their all-format tour. The win meant that Bangladesh, after losing the Test and ODI legs, managed to clinch the T20Is, their second straight bilaterial series win over Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe continued to be sloppy with their ground fielding, which Sikandar Raza dubbed their Achilles Heel after the match after they dropped a whopping seven catches. The only consolation came from Brad Evans and Raza's skillful catchers. The chase, led by Tanzid Hasan Tamim's 66*, which topped the run-scoring charts in both the ODIs and T20Is, was not particularly threatening for Bangladesh, with the exception of the drama in the final over. With only 30 runs conceded, Zimbabwe's only chance of winning was to control them in the Powerplay, which they did to a large extent. The short ball was used as a form of attack, which gave them Saif Hassan's wicket five balls into the chase. As they moved past the restrictions on the field, the left-handed duo of Parvez Emon and Tanzid continued to face more of those. The momentum shifted when Emon launched Sikandar Raza over his head for a six to end the seventh over, and Tamim followed it by greeting Tinotenda Maposa, brought in for this game, with a six to start his spell. Even though Raza had already given up five wides earlier in the game, he was able to get Emon in the next over. It typified Zimbabwe's effort: one step forward, two steps back. Tamim dug in from that point on, scoring his 13th T20I fifty to defeat them and tie Shakib Al Hasan. Only Litton Das (16) has more for Bangladesh. Earlier, Zimbabwe ambled to 143/7 in the first innings, given the early push by Brian Bennett, with Dion Myers taking over with a steady 53-ball 73. None of the other batters reached double digits, so the rest of the lineup was almost nonexistent. Bangladesh did not feel the pinch as much because they were without their speed king Nahid Rana. Taskin Ahmed put on the brakes with a close four-round streak of 0-16. Zimbabwe reached a steady 118/3 by the 16th over, but they couldn't get their act together until the very end. They attempted a late push but only lost their way, losing three wickets in six deliveries. In the end, a total of 143 just wasn't enough, and the misfields made it worse. "Had we fielded a bit better, Brad wouldn't be defending five. Raza later regretted that "He might have been defending 15 to 18." Reeling from the loss, Zimbabwe will have little time to ruminate, with the T20I series against India starting in four days' time.