Bangladesh (Tanzid 94, Soumya 69, Masuku 2-33) beat Zimbabwe Madhevere 75, Evans 50, Shoriful 4-44) by seven wickets
Zimbabwe defended a score that seemed too little, 141, in the first ODI and one that seemed too much, 247, in the second match. Bowling first in Harare, Bangladesh made sure 199 was just right for them to claim a consolation win in game three. Tanzid Hasan continued a magical 2026 with his sixth fifty-plus score in 12 ODI innings as Bangladesh made batting look easy against a second-choice Zimbabwe attack.
The hosts rested captain Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani and Newman Nyamhuri with the series already decided, and plenty more cricket still to come. Still, Zimbabwe had their series MVP Brad Evans in the XI and he almost played another decisive hand. Evans followed up his maiden ODI fifty from match two with a second half-century here, to lift Zimbabwe from 108 for 5 in the 34th over to a total of 199. He ensured Wessly Madhevere's career-best 75 had some support. However, their twin fifties were not enough for Zimbabwe, who could not pull off a clean series sweep here.
They laboured through most of their innings against a disciplined Bangladesh attack. The new-ball pair of Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam were outstanding, shared six wickets between them and gave away just 76 runs in their 20 overs. Bangladesh also benefited from the inclusion of an additional seamer, Mohammad Saifuddin, who took 1 for 31 in 9.1 overs.
On a pitch where the ball sometimes seemed to stick in the wicket, Zimbabwe had an ultra-cautious start. Taskin conceded just six runs in his first three overs and created pressure. At the other end, Shoriful got the first reward. Ben Curran played on, almost in slow-motion, as he tried to guide the ball behind square.
In the next over Taskin had Brian Bennett caught behind off a beauty that swerved away gently as the Zimbabwean opener could not help himself from playing at it. Zimbabwe did not score a run for the next 17 deliveries and finished the Powerplay on 21 for 2, with Innocent Kaia's straight drive their only boundary.
Craig Ervine faced 20 balls for five runs before he attempted a loose drive off Shoriful and was caught behind. Madhevere came out to the crease next, with the introduction of spin in the middle. He hit Tanvir Islam straight to backward point but was dropped on 0, which proved costly for Bangladesh. Madhevere and Kaia shared a stand of 51 as Zimbabwe rebuilt slowly. There was only one release shot in their stand, when Madhevere hit Tanvir over long-on for six, but the scoreboard was barely moving as Zimbabwe were 72 for 3 at the halfway stage.
Taskin broke the partnership when he rushed Kaia with a short, pace-on ball, who pulled it to square leg. Stand-in captain Sikandar Raza fell to the same shot as fell over trying to pull Tanvir. His top-edge was caught at short fine leg. Five balls later, Clive Madande was caught behind, leaving Zimbabwe 108 for 6 in the 34th over. Thereafter, Bangladesh would have had hopes of closing out the innings quickly.
Enter Evans: the hero of Zimbabwe's innings in the second match, where he scored 58 off 38 balls. He started confidently when he drove Shoriful through the covers for four. Bangladesh thought they had him early in his innings when they appealed for caught behind off Tanvir, but Umpire Paleker was unmoved.
In the next over, Madhevere brought up fifty and then hit Mehidy Hasan Miraz behind square for four. Then, Evans sent Miraz over his head for four and Madhevere smashed Safiuddin through the covers. As Zimbabwe gained momentum, Bangladesh's grip on the innings loosened and they made another vital error when Mohammad Saifuddin dropped Evans on 13 his followthrough, as Evans sent a low full toss straight back to him.
Madhevere had 10 overs to try and get a first century but was dismissed when he tried to carve Tanvir over the offside. He was deceived by the lack of pace and popped it up for Miraz to take the catch at cover. Evans took 11 runs off Miraz's next over but soon ran out of partners.
Masakadza was run-out by a direct hit from Towhid Hridoy when he took for a single Evans didn't want, leaving it to Evans to finish off. He reached fifty with a single after hitting Taskin for four, and then six, but was dismissed with 16 balls to go when Shoriful bounced him out. Zimbabwe were bowled out 11 deliveries short of 50 overs and seemed to have left many runs out there.
Bangladesh confirmed that when they appeared to be batting on a different surface and took on the short ball straightaway. Brad Evans should have taken the first wicket after his fifty in the first innings, but Tanzid was dropped on 23 in the first of a series of Zimbabwean blunders. Tanzid was dropped twice more: on 37 and on 65 (off Evans again), and went on to score 94.
Ernest Masuku, playing in just his second ODI, was loose upfront and gave away 26 runs in his first three overs. Zimbabwe were unable to keep the openers quiet. Worse, when Tanzid danced down the track to hit Evans over mid-off and sent it straight to Masakadza, a simple chance popped out of his hands. Tanzid and Soumya took Bangladesh to the end of the Powerplay on 59 without loss and added 10 more runs in four overs before Raza brought himself on. By then, Tanzid had been put down a second time, by Chanaka at deep third, off Maseku,
Tanzid brought up fifty off Raza, off the 49th ball he faced. Though Soumya was scoring much slower at the other end, he targeted Zimbabwe's substitute. He sent Raza over long-on for six and brought up the team 100 when he flashed hard and edged him for four. The pair were comfortable and cantering home when Tanzid whipped Evans to deep backward square and Kaia went for the catch reverse-cup and put it down.
Finally, against the run of play, Chanaka bowled Sarkar with a delivery that kept low but it was far too late. Bangladesh needed 49 runs from 22.2 overs and the battle became about if Tanzid, on 71 at the time, could get a century.
Najmul Hossain Shanto almost denied him the opportunity when he took three fours off Chivanga's seventh over, but Tanzid soon took back control. He took 10 runs off two Madhevere deliveries to enter the 80s and then found his way into the 90s off Masakadza. He reached 94, with Bangladesh needed three runs to win, and refused runs as he looked for a big shot. Shanto even played out a maiden at the other end to get Tanzid back on strike. Tanzid tried to go for glory and bring up his century, he was instead caught at long-on by Evans. Still, Bangladesh sealed the game with 84 balls - 14 overs - remaining for a consolation win to end the series.
