Wishart steers Zimbabwe to victory

Zimbabwe skipped a few heart-beats before racing to a five-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the first one-day international in Chittagong on Friday.

The tourists, chasing a modest target of 157, were reeling at 20 for 3 before Craig Wishart restored their fortunes with an unbeaten 79.

Wishart put on 105 for the fourth wicket with skipper Stuart Carlisle (46), as Zimbabwe won with 7.4 overs to spare to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Wishart finished the match in style, hoisting debutant seamer Mashrafe Mortaza for his second six of the innings. He also struck 11 boundaries in his 92-ball knock.

Mortaza had rocked the Zimbabwean top order with two quick wickets, including that of the prolific Andy Flower, in his opening spell.

But he lacked support from the other end as Wishart and Carlisle thrived on a mediocre attack to see their team home.

The win was set up by seamers Gary Brent and Travis Friend, who shared six wickets to restrict Bangladesh to a small total.

Friend conceded just 25 runs and Brent 29 in their economical spells, as Bangladesh struggled for runs after being sent in to bat.

Habibul Bashar (44) and captain Khaled Mashud (40) were the only batsmen to defy the Zimbabweans, but their efforts were not good enough to help their team post a challenging total.

Opener Al Sahariar (13) and Mohammad Rafique (15) were the other batsmen to reach double figures against an accurate Zimbabwean attack.

Basher and Mashud put on 50 for the sixth wicket, the highest stand of the innings which contained just 10 boundaries in 48.4 overs.

The home team included three players - Fahim Muntasir Mortaza and Tushar Imram - taking part in their first one-dayer.

Mail Cricket Editor