Zimbabwe Beat Bangladesh by 99 Runs — Ervine and Taylor Rebuild From 24 for 3, Evans Finishes the Job

There is a particular kind of calm that only comes with years, and Zimbabwe had two batters full of it in Abu Dhabi. Taskin Ahmed had just bowled one of the new-ball spells of the season: Brian Bennett lbw to the sixth ball of the match after a working-over, Ben Curran lbw to one that snaked back, the debutant Tafadzwa Tsiga top-edging a pull. Zimbabwe were 24 for 3 in the seventh over, having chosen to bat. Then Craig Ervine and Brendan Taylor, both past 40, walked out together and did not panic; they put on 150.

That stand was the match. Zimbabwe made 271 for 8, and when Bangladesh's chase, bright for ten overs on Tanzid Hasan's strokeplay, met Zimbabwe's younger bowlers, it lasted only 33.4 overs. Zimbabwe 271 for 8 (50 overs). Bangladesh 172 (33.4 overs). Zimbabwe won the opening match of the tri-series by 99 runs. It was Sikandar Raza's first win as ODI captain, and Ervine, seven short of a hundred, was named Player of the Match.

Ervine and Taylor did not try to survive Bangladesh's quicks so much as push them back. They found an early string of boundaries off the pacers, then turned to the sweep against the spinners, Ervine reverse-sweeping repeatedly. Zimbabwe were 57 for 3 at the first drinks break and 153 for 3 at the second, and the partnership went past 100 in 113 balls. Taylor reached his first ODI half-century in six years, his last having come against Pakistan in 2020, and Ervine followed from 64 balls. Taylor fell the ball after the stand reached 150, miscuing a reverse sweep off Saif Hassan, Bangladesh's seventh bowler, for 81.

There was a wobble: Raza gloved a sweep off Saif, Wessly Madhevere swept Rishad Hossain to deep square, and Ervine was caught behind off Shoriful Islam for 93, leaving Zimbabwe 234 for 8 in the 46th over. Newman Nyamhuri and Wellington Masakadza then took 37 off the last 26 balls without being parted, and those runs mattered more than they seemed to at the time.

The ball belonged to Zimbabwe's younger men. Blessing Muzarabani's 8 overs cost 23 and brought Soumya Sarkar's edge, which Bennett held well at second slip. Nyamhuri had Tanzid caught by substitute Ryan Burl, and Evans trapped Najmul Hossain Shanto two balls later. Raza trapped his opposite number Towhid Hridoy lbw in the 17th over, and Masakadza, the left-arm spinner, had Mosaddek Hossain lbw and Saif caught behind by Taylor. When Evans came back, he removed Nurul Hasan and Shoriful with the short ball in the same over, and finished it by catching Mustafizur Rahman off his own bowling, then offering the No. 11 a handshake.

Bangladesh's bowling was good enough to win this. Taskin's opening spell was outstanding, Mustafizur's 10 overs cost 44, and Saif's part-time offerings of 2 for 17 broke the partnership and removed Raza. At 234 for 8 in the 46th over, they had Zimbabwe in trouble. Letting the last 37 runs come unanswered was a small leak; what followed with the bat was a flood.

The chase began well, 66 for 2 in the first powerplay, with Tanzid cutting and square-driving freely for nine fours and a six. Then two wickets fell in three balls either side of the 10th over: Tanzid, dropped on 46 by Muzarabani at deep third, guided the next ball to Burl, and Shanto was lbw to Evans two balls later. From 66 for 1 to 68 for 3, the innings never found a partnership again: after the first powerplay, Bangladesh added 106 runs and lost eight wickets. The lesson is about the middle order rather than the target: 272 was a fair chase on this surface, but not from 68 for 3 without anyone to bat through.

We weren't at the ground, so we go by the scorecard and the match report. The new ball did plenty for Bangladesh's quicks early, with Taskin bringing it back into the pads for two lbws in the first five overs, and Bangladesh's pacers made it talk again at the death. Through the middle, the sweep was the productive shot against spin, for Ervine and Taylor especially, and it was also the shot that got out Taylor, Raza and Madhevere. Zimbabwe's spinners, Raza and Masakadza, took four wickets for 46 in 13 overs, mostly with deliveries that held their line or came back in. Extras were modest: seven conceded by Bangladesh, 13 by Zimbabwe.

Ervine walked in at 17 for 2 and saw Tsiga go before he had settled. When the stand reached 50 his share was 16 to Taylor's 34, and then he took over: a half-century from 64 balls, the reverse sweep used again and again to keep the spinners from settling, nine fours in 106 balls. With Madhevere he also put together a late burst of seven fours in quick succession. He fell to a feather edge off Shoriful, seven short of what would have been a deserved hundred, and the crowd gave him a big ovation off the field. Without the 93 and the 150-run stand around it, Zimbabwe would have been chasing the game from 24 for 3.

We got this one wrong. Our preview called Bangladesh the favourites, on ranking, UAE experience and a spin attack built around Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Nasum Ahmed. None of those three played, nor did Litton Das or Mahmudullah, whom we named as the batting anchors; Bangladesh's wickets came from the seamers and from Saif Hassan's part-time overs, while Rishad Hossain's 9 overs cost 66. On Zimbabwe, we pointed to Sean Williams and Richard Ngarava, neither of whom was in the XI, and to Ervine's leadership, though it was Raza who captained. What we did get right: we said Zimbabwe could surprise if the seamers used the new ball well and Raza had a big all-round day. Raza made only 4 with the bat, but his 2 for 28 included Hridoy, and the seamers took six wickets. Zimbabwe's batting, which we barely discussed, won the game.

Zimbabwe have the first win of the round-robin and play Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi on Monday, October 19. Bangladesh then meet Afghanistan on Wednesday, October 21, needing a win to stay in the hunt for a place in the final on October 23. For Bangladesh, the question is who in the middle order bats through the innings after the top order goes; for Zimbabwe, it is whether the batting can work without their two forty-somethings having to rescue it from 24 for 3.