Soumya, Naim fifties help Bangladesh beat hosts in first T20

Mohammad Naim and Soumya Sarkar scored half centuries as Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe by eight wickets to win the first match of their Twenty20 series at the Harare Sports Club on Thursday (July 22).

The pair featured in a 102-run opening wicket partnership to set the Tigers on the way to a comfortable victory as visitors chased down a target of 153 for victory with seven balls to spare.

Naim finished on 63 not out while Sarkar got to 50 before being run out.

Zimbabwe, who won the toss, made a good start with Regis Chakabva transferring his ODI form to the T20 format and scoring 43 to guide his time to 91-3 after 10 overs.

But the hosts added only 61 more runs as wickets tumbled in the next nine overs and were bowled out with one over to spare. Mustafizur Rahman took 3-31.

The sides meet again in the three-game series on Friday and Sunday. Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe in their one-off test this month and wrapped up a 3-0 win in the one-day international series this week.