Sublime Sabbir sinks Zim

Despite recurring batting issues Bangladesh raced to a thumping 42-run win over Zimbabwe in the second T20I at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna yesterday, taking a 2-0 lead in the four-match series.

In the end Bangladesh's traditional weapon, their spin attack, turned out to be too much for the visitors to handle as they were restricted to 125 for eight in their chase of 167.

Sabbir Rahman, who smacked an unbeaten 43 and finished with figures of three for 11, was the chief destroyer.

Zimbabwe begun their chase in an aggressive manner, smacking 45 runs in the first six overs without losing a wicket. That little period seemed to frustrate home skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza as he ended up using five bowlers in the first five overs.

The captain himself got the breakthrough in the seventh over when he removed Vusi Sibanda, who played on to an incoming delivery. After that over, spinners Shuvagata Hom, Shakib Al Hasan and Sabbir Rahman bowled in tandem to further strangle Zimbabwe.

The decisive blows were struck between overs number eight and 12, when the visitors scored just 21 runs and lost three wickets, crumbling from 50 for one to 71 for four.

While Sabbir got two scalps -- that of the dangerous Hamilton Masakadza and Richmond Mutumbami -- Shuvagata got his maiden T20I wicket. The visitors just did not seem to know how to handle the spinners and attempted to smack them out of the ground; a tactic that led to the collapse.

Hamilton Masakadza, the man in form and standing in as captain in place of the rested Elton Chigumbura, was comfortably caught at long-on. Sean Williams was trapped in front by Shuvagata while attempting an ill-advised sweep and Richmond Mutmbami top-edged one into the deep off Sabbir in the 11th over.

It was difficult for the visitors to recover thereafter, and to make things worse they had to deal with the likes of Mustafizur Rahman and Al-Amin Hossain at the death. Mustafizur took two wickets before stepping off the field due to a recurring shoulder issue, while Al-Amin scalped one.

Earlier, Bangladesh's innings followed a similar pattern to that of the last few T20Is with none of the batsmen able to make the most of their starts. While Mushfiqur Rahim looked good in the middle, he unfortunately suffered from a hamstring pull and had to retire hurt.

Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar started well, playing with a balance of caution and aggression and the Tigers had raced to 45 for no loss before Tamim top-edged one in the last over of the Powerplay. Sabbir Rahman arrived at the crease to join Soumya and while the pair struck a series of boundaries during the stand, there were many dot balls as well -- 27 in the first 10 overs and on the whole the number crossed 40.

In the 10th over Soumya was out for 43 while attempting to hit his fourth six. Things got worse as Mahmudullah nicked behind a well-flighted delivery from Wellington Masakadza two balls later.

Sabbir and Mushfiqur put on 52 runs in 35 balls for the fourth wicket. However, Mushfiqur retired hurt with just four overs remaining and that meant that Shakib, would have to hit the ground running, which he did with two fours and a six in his 17-ball 27. The main impetus, however, was provided by the player of the match Sabbir, who hit three sixes and a four in his 30-ball innings.