Bangledesh beat Zimbabwe by 6 wickets, take 3-1 lead

Chittagong, Bangladesh:

Raqibul Hassan hit a giant six to bring up the winning runs as Bangladesh completed a series-clinching victory against Zimbabwe on Tuesday.

Bangladesh raced to 49 for four in 11.5 overs to secure a winning 3-1 lead in the five-match series after the fourth match lasted less than 37 of the scheduled 100 overs.

Winning skipper Shakib Al Hasan said a moist pitch meant Bangladesh had to work harder than expected to chase down the total, continuing a low-scoring series.

"It was not what we had expected, the wicket was not ideal for one-day matches," Hasan said. "We would have loved to have won by 10 wickets, but it was spinning a lot."

He also said the result could have been even more lopsided had his fielders not put down three chances.

"We have been dropping some catches, we need to work a bit on our fielding," Hasan said.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Zimbabwe lost its first four wickets for just eight runs at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.

Enamul Haque and Shakib Al Hasan took three wickets apiece for the hosts, while only Malcolm Waller (13) and Stuart Matsikenyeri (11) reached double figures for Zimbabwe.

Spinners Raymond Price and Graeme Cremer claimed two wickets each before Bangladesh completed the chase.

Bangladesh was always in command, and lost the first two wickets on 33. Price finished with 2-5, with Cremer taking 2-11.

Price first dismissed opener Tamim Iqbal (22), and then trapped Mohammad Ashraful lbw for a duck. Cremer removed Zunaed Siddique (8) and Naeem Islam (0).

Zimbabwe captain Hamilton Masakadza regretted the decision to bat first.

"It was a bad day for us", Masakadza said.

The lopsided result was a setback for Zimbabwe cricket, particularly after winning the series-opener at Dhaka by five wickets.

"It is really disappointing that we are 3-1 down, after going one up in the series." "But we hope to win the next match."

Zimbabwe's 35 against Sri Lanka at Harare in 2004 is the lowest ODI total ever, one run worse than ICC associate member Canada's total against Sri Lanka at the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.

Zimbabwe also has the third-lowest total - 38 against Sri Lanka at Colombo in 2001.