NEW: Raza shines again in Chevrons ODI win

Online Reporter

SIKANDAR RAZA continued his purple patch as his unbeaten century guided Zimbabwe to a five-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the first One-Day International (ODI) of their three-match series at Harare Sports Club on Friday.

Raza put up yet another player-of-the-match performance with his unbeaten 135, which saw the Chevrons chase down the visitors’ 303 for two.

Zimbabwe take a one-nil lead heading into Sunday’s match.

The Pakistani-born Zimbabwean also featured in a 192-run fourth-wicket partnership alongside fellow centurion Innocent Kaia (110), which rescued the hosts after losing three early wickets in their chase.

The hosts won the toss and elected to send Bangladesh to bat.

It was a decision they were almost made to rue as four half-centuries from Bangladesh’s top order saw the visitors make 303 for two during their allotted 50 overs.

It was the first time the Asians had scored 300 runs or more for the loss of only two wickets, with skipper Tamim Iqbal (62), Litton Das (81), Anamul Haque (73) and Mushfiqur Rahim (52) all making impactful contributions.

Zimbabwe, who used as many as eight bowlers on the day, struggled to get breakthroughs as only debutant Victor Nyauchi (one for 65) and Raza (one for 48) took any wickets.

Bangladesh then went on to complement that good start by taking the early wickets of Zimbabwe skipper Regis Chakabva (2), Tarisai Musakanda (4) and Wesley Madhevere (19) inside the first 13 overs of Zimbabwe’s innings.

It was at this point, with the score at 62 for three, that the duo of Raza and Kaia took the game to the visitors as they shared a stand of 192 off 172 balls.

By the time Kaia lost his wicket – after 110 off 122 balls – and the score at 254 for four, the tide had shifted, and it was Zimbabwe’s game to lose.

Raza continued the chase, sharing a 42-run fifth-wicket stand with Luke Jongwe, before scoring the match-winning runs in the 48th over.

After the match, Raza paid tribute to Innocent Kaia.

“I thought Innocent was brilliant out there,” said Raza.

“I thought that partnership, where we always speak about when you are chasing 300 or runs, if you get a partnership of 180 and plus, it wins you games,” he said.

His sentiments were backed up by his skipper, Regis Chakabva.

“It’s really good to get a first win like that, but I think credit should go to Raza and Innocent.

“The way they went about after we lost a few early wickets, we couldn’t have asked for anything better,” he said.