Another clean sweep

From a brilliant century stand and a run-out controversy to Mashrafe Bin Mortaza introducing a seven-man slip cordon and Mustafizur Rahman's third five-wicket haul, the 3-0 series sweep of Zimbabwe was completed in emphatic fashion by the Tigers yesterday.

After winning the toss for the first time in the series, Mashrafe had little hesitation in opting to bat and the openers vindicated his decision by forging a 147-run stand before the innings lost its way and the hosts huffed and puffed their way to 276 for nine. Zimbabwe, despite showing some resilience during the chase, had little answer to Mustafizur's panache and eventually folded for 215 in the 44th over, handing the hosts a 61-run victory.

Openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes had a dominant stand -- the pair's first ever century stand in ODIs -- as Imrul's initial aggression was complemented by a controlled knock from Tamim. While Imrul smacked four sixes in his 95-ball 73, his partner hit seven boundaries for the same score. But both batsmen were sent back to the pavilion after getting stumped within the 35th over.

Mushfiqur Rahim, sent in at number three to accelerate the scoring, hit three well-timed boundaries before he too got stumped in the 38th over. It was the first time in ODI history that the top three batters of any team got stumped.

However, the innings suddenly took a turn for the worse as 222 for three soon became 226 for six. The hosts would have been in further trouble had Zimbabwe's stand-in wicket-keeper Regis Chakabva not taken the bails off before Sikandar Raza's throw hit the stumps while Mahmudullah was left stranded mid-pitch during the 45th over.

Mahmudullah, having pushed the ball to the cover region, had advanced half-way down when his skipper sent him back. The on-field umpire raised his index finger, only for the TV umpire to negate the decision after a long and hard look.

The veteran all-rounder made the most of the reprieve, scoring a 40-ball 52 as Bangladesh managed to post their highest score of the series.

After the exchange, it was a Mustafizur show, supported by a disciplined performance from the rest of the crew, as the youngster removed the openers early before mopping up the tail. The left-armer removed Chamu Chibabha with a brilliant in-swinger off the second delivery of the innings before ending Chakabva's stay with a well-disguised slower delivery some five overs later.

After Nasir Hossain trapped Craig Ervine in front in the ninth over, Zimbabwe were struggling at 47 for three before skipper Elton Chigumbura and Sean Williams revived the visitors with an 80-run stand, taking them to 127 for 3 by the 23rd over.

But then came Sabbir Rahman with a slider in the final delivery of the 23rd over, ending Chigumbura's 45-run knock while Al-Amin Hossain sent back Malcolm Waller for 32. Williams, too, was dismissed for 64 soon as Mustafizur was left with clearing the rest of the tail.