Sports news | Hridoy’s half-century helps Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe and Clinch T20 Series

Chattogram (Bangladesh), May 7 (AP) Towhid Hridoy hit his maiden half-century as Bangladesh defeated Zimbabwe by nine runs in the third T20 on Tuesday to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.

Batting first, Bangladesh amassed 165-8 with Hridoy hitting a 38-ball 57 and then defended the total by restricting Zimbabwe to 156-9.

Also read | Nikhil Chaudhary joins BBL team Hobart Hurricanes after being acquitted in rape case: report.

Faraz Akram and Wellington Masakadza, the two changes Zimbabwe made for this match, combined for a national record 54 runs for the ninth wicket to raise the team’s hopes but the Bangladesh bowlers held their nerve.

Bangladesh were reduced to 29-2 after losing out-of-form opener Liton Das and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, giving Zimbabwe a chance to stay alive in the series.

Also read | CSK all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and wife Raviba Jadeja cast their votes in Jamnagar during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections (watch video).

Hridoy counter-attacked to keep the runs going but Zimbabwe hit back again when Akram canceled out Tanzid Hasan with a short delivery for 21, leaving Bangladesh at 60-3 in ninth place.

Jaker Ali and Hridoy scored 87 off 57 balls to help Bangladesh reach a solid total.

Hridoy lifted his maiden T20 fifty off 34 balls by sending fast bowler Luke Jongwe to deep cover for a single.

Fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani, who claimed 3-14 from four overs, eventually broke the partnership by rattling Hridoy’s stump with a toe-breaker yorker after the batsman hit three fours and two sixes in his knock.

Two balls later, Muzarabani executed another yorker with precision to deny Jaker Ali a half-century. Jaker hit three fours and two sixes for his 34-ball 44.

In reply, Zimbabwe’s top order failed to click again as four of the first five batters were bowled out for a single-digit figure.

Opener Tadiwanashe Marumani met some resistance but when occasional bowler Mahmudullah got him out of the way, Zimbabwe were left at 66-5.

Jonathon Campbell, who hit a 24-ball 45 in the previous match, gave Bangladesh a brief scare before left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam dismissed him for 21 off 10.

With Zimbabwe on the brink of defeat, Akram and Masakadza gave the team a ray of hope. Akram was the aggressor and he kept the runs flowing.

Fast bowler Taskin Ahmed brought the side back into contention, giving away just six runs in the penultimate over with Zimbabwe needing 27 from 12 balls.

Saifuddin (3-42) broke the partnership by dismissing Masakadza for 13 points and then defended 21 points.

Akram was unbeaten on 34 off 19, hitting two fours and as many sixes.

The fourth T20 is in Dhaka on Friday. (AP)

(This is an unedited auto-generated story from the syndicated news feed. Staff may not have edited or edited the content recently)