JOIN USZimbabwe held off a late Bangladesh fightback to win the first Twenty20 international by six runs in Bulawayo on Saturday.
Set 169 for victory, Bangladesh looked to be cruising at 120 for one before three wickets in five balls set them back. They still managed to make a tight game of it, though, needing 10 runs off the final over.
After Zimbabwe won the toss, their opener Hamilton Masakadza blasted 59 from 48 balls and skipper Brendan Taylor added 40 from 25 deliveries to give the hosts a solid score.
Malcolm Waller showed good power-hitting at the end to finish on 26 not out from 14 balls as the home batsmen found the boundary with regularity.
All the Bangladesh bowlers suffered except Shakib Al Hasan, whose four overs went for just 20 and took the wickets of Masakadza and Taylor.
Shamsur Rahman (53) and Shakib Al Hasan (65) added 118 in just 85 balls for Bangladesh's second wicket but the visitors lost four batsmen for the addition of just 10 runs.
Prosper Utseya did the damage, removing both the half-centurions within three balls to turn the match in his side's favour.
ZIMBABWE: Hamilton Masakadza c Gazi b Shakib 59, Vusi Sibanda c Sajidul b Gazi 0, Brendan Taylor c Tamim b Shakib 40, Sean Williams st Mushfiqur b Mahmudullah 6, Sikander Raza c Shakib b Shafiul 14, Malcolm Waller (not out) 26, Tinotenda Mutombodzi (not out) 12. Extras (B-4, LB-2, W-5) 11. Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs) 168.
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-75, 3-92, 4-120, 5-142.
Bowling: Sohag Gazi 4-0-28-1, Shafiul Islam 3-0-29-1, Abdur Razzak 4-0-35-0, Shakib Al Hasan 4-0-20-2, Sajidul Islam 1-0-15-0, Mahmudullah 4-0-35-1.
BANGLADESH: Tamim Iqbal b Vitori 2, Shamsur Rahman C Taylor b Utseya 53, Shakib Al Hasan c Waller b Utseya 65, Mushfiqur Rahim c Williams b Panyangara 28, Nasir Hossain (run out) 0, Mahmudullah (run out) 2, Ziaur Rahman c Sibanda b Panyangara 2, Sohag Gazi (not out) 2, Abdur Razzak lbw Panyangara 2. Extras (B-1, LB-1, W-3, NB-1) 6. Total (for 8 wkts, 20 overs) 162.
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-120, 3-124, 4-126, 5-130, 6-143, 7-159, 8-162.
Bowling: Brian Vitori 4-0-24-1, Tendai Chatara 3-0-30-0, P rsoper Utseya 4-0-34-2, Tinashe Panyangara 4-0-32-3, Tinotenda Mutombodzi 4-0-33-0, Hamilton Masakadza 1-0-7-0.