Well, that brings us to the end of the post-match presentation. Towhid Hridoy now joins the stage to celebrate with the trophy alongside his teammates. It has been a fantastic tour filled with plenty of cricket action and lots of positives for both teams to take forward. See you soon, folks; time to sign off. Goodbye!
Mustafa Moudi : "Wanted Zimbabwe to win this match and series so that they could face India with a Winning Momentum as India is already going through a rough patch in T20Is. Nevertheless great thriller !!"
Towhid Hridoy: "[Happy with the lads] Alhamdulillah. We did well as a batting and bowling unit. For the last two matches, we dominated and controlled the game. [Chat in the last couple of days] When we lost the first match, we had a meeting and discussed the conditions and how we would go forward. Our boys really played well after that; both the bowling and batting units. [Spinner] We know about Rishad's ability. When he gets the opportunity, he comes in, shows his character, and dominates the bowling here. [Tanzid] Yeah, he's a class batsman. We know his ability, and whenever he gets in, he always tries to finish the game and show up for the team."
Player of the Match and the Series, Tanzid Hasan Tamim: "First of all, Alhamdulillah, we won the series. It's an amazing feeling. I think our bowlers did a really good job. They bowled very nicely on that wicket, and we were thinking that on this particular surface, the first six overs aren't easy to bat on, so I was trying to build a partnership and play as long as possible. [Batting approach] I think not to play too hard, just watch the ball and play on merit. That's the main thing. [Discussion in the dressing room] It's feeling amazing because we lost the last two series in the Tests and ODIs, so winning the last match is a really amazing feeling and I hope the boys are enjoying it too. [Staying at the non-striker's end in the last over] Yeah, no problem. I was trying to keep myself normal. I believed that if I stayed at the wicket, I could easily finish the match. That's what I believed in that situation."
Sikandar Raza: "[Do you feel you were short at the end?] I thought 155. We realized that this is a typical Bulawayo wicket that's going to get harder to bat on, and it did. I just think we were maybe five to 10 runs short as well. But having said that, I still think had we fielded a little bit better, it has been our Achilles' heel, we could have made a game out of it anyway. If you look at the dropped chances and the misfields and all those things that we did on the park, they could have been needing 15 runs to win the game in the last over, but unfortunately it was not to be. In the field there was a lot of misfields. There was a lot of twos that shouldn't have been. We spoke about it. Some of the lack of awareness from the boundary riders suddenly cost those runs as well. A lot of the twos straight to fielders as well. So you know, all those things just contributed. I think our game awareness today in the field was quite poor. [Last over] Suddenly we backed Brad, and it would have been a great game had we won it. But still a good game of cricket as well, and credit to Bangladesh for winning. Having five fielders inside, it was always tough, but credit to Brad that he showed a lot of character and heart there as well. Unfortunately, when the margins are very small, a full toss that you middle is a four, so you know these things go, these things matter. And again, like I said, the way we fielded, had we fielded a bit better, Brad wouldn't be defending five. He might have been defending 15 to 18. [Positives from the series] I thought some of the positives have been the few partnerships that we got, but the main real positive has been our bowling lineup on these Bulawayo surfaces; how well we have bowled, especially the seamers. Spinners have contributed here and there, but ideally, in my opinion, the only big contribution has been in this series from the seamers, and I think that's a big positive. [314 matches for Zimbabwe across all formats] It was made more special by the little presentation that Zimbabwe Cricket and Hammy [Hamilton Masakadza] did, but it was made even more special that my son was here. He wasn't supposed to be here. He was with his school. I didn't know that there was going to be a ceremony and things like that. To have my son with me here suddenly made it even more special."
Kp: "The best possible end of this terrific tour, a match for ages, that 19.4 drama was beyond me!"
Applin: "Just tuned in to this match, and good lord. We're feasting. Also, is there no drs??" No DRS, unfortunately.
Fazo: "T.H.R.I.L.L.E.R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
4:15 pm Phew! What a game of cricket. It turned into a cliffhanger out of nowhere, but in the end, a clinical performance by Bangladesh saw them clinch the T20I series 2-1 and finish the tour on a high note. While Zimbabwe won the Test series 1-0 and the ODI series 2-1, the visitors finally have something to smile about before boarding the plane home. Bangladesh faced early trouble in the chase, losing opener Saif in the very first over. They reached 30 for 1 at the end of the powerplay, struggling against the extra bounce and pace of the Zimbabwean seam attack. However, a 14-run over off Maposa brought Bangladesh right back into the contest and released all the pressure that had been building up. Raza then struck in the ninth over to dismiss Emon; a crucial breakthrough for Zimbabwe just as the game was slipping away. Tanzid carried his superb form forward, anchoring the innings alongside his skipper to cruise comfortably toward the target. Tanzid brought up his 13th T20I fifty, and his 63-run partnership with Hridoy put Bangladesh in a commanding position. Hridoy was eventually dismissed by Raza for 24, caught and bowled. Zimbabwe's fielding was below par once again, compiled by missed chances, leaked runs in the deep, and easy singles given away inside the ring. Ultimately, the hosts simply didn't have enough runs on the board to defend, which was always going to be an uphill task given that only two Zimbabwean batters reached double digits in the first innings. The pitch also seemed to ease out as the game progressed. Even so, Ngarava and Evans sparked late hope for the home side. They picked up a couple of quick wickets, survived a few close shouts that were turned down, and were involved in a dead-ball call by the umpire that denied Evans a T20I hat trick, another massive turning point in the game. In the end, Bangladesh kept their composure, and Mahedi struck a boundary over the infield to take his team over the line. Tanzid remained unbeaten on a brilliant 66 off 58 balls. For Zimbabwe, Evans, Ngarava, and Raza picked up two wickets each. The post-match presentation is coming up next.
Bangladesh won by 4 wickets
Hello what's happening out there! A low full toss nips back in, and Mahedi Hasan plays across the line. It thuds into the pad and looks absolutely plumb. But hang on! The umpire has signaled a dead ball just as the bowler released it. Oh dear! There is a lengthy discussion now between the umpire and Sikandar Raza, while some heated words are being exchanged between Tanzid Hasan and Brad Evans. It appears a fielder was moving in the field, which is why the dead ball was called.
Hat-trick ball for Evans. Mahedi Hasan walks in at number 8
Zubair Islam : "Crowd pressure doing it's bit"
Rafsan: "Mosaddek's wicket looked like a knuckle ball from Evans"
Mohammad Saifuddin c Burl b Evans 0 (2m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0
Arfaa: "Saifuddin vs Evans, final over, take 2, absolute cinema "
Mohammad Saifuddin is the new batter at number 7. Run a ball needed now.
Fazo: "Oh boy, here we go again..."
Mosaddek Hossain b Evans 1 (4m 3b 0x4 0x6) SR: 33.33
Long discussion between Raza and Evans.
Evans to bowl the last over. 5 needed from 6 balls. Extra fielder inside the ring due to slow over rate.
END OF OVER:19 | 4 Runs 1 Wkt | BAN: 139/4 (5 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 7.31, RRR: 5.00)
- Mosaddek Hossain1 (2b)
- Tanzid Hasan65 (57b)
- Richard Ngarava4-0-20-2
- Blessing Muzarabani4-0-17-0
Fazo: "I remember in the 2022 World cup, Zim (Muzarabani) defended 7 runs in last over against Pakistan.Let's GO!!!!!!!!!!!!"
around the wicket
Mosaddek Hossain is the new batter in at number 6
Yasir Ali c †Marumani b Ngarava 10 (11m 9b 1x4 0x6) SR: 111.11
around the wicket
9 runs needed off 12 balls. Ngarava to bowl out
END OF OVER:18 | 5 Runs | BAN: 135/3 (9 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 7.50, RRR: 4.50)
- Tanzid Hasan63 (55b)
- Yasir Ali9 (7b)
- Blessing Muzarabani4-0-17-0
- Brad Evans3-0-21-0
14 runs needed off 18 balls. Muzarabani returns to the attack
END OF OVER:17 | 8 Runs | BAN: 130/3 (14 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 7.64, RRR: 4.66)
- Yasir Ali6 (4b)
- Tanzid Hasan61 (52b)
- Brad Evans3-0-21-0
- Sikandar Raza4-0-38-2