ZIM vs BAN 2026, ZIM vs BAN 2nd T20I Match Report, July 17, 2026

Bangladesh 186 for 5 (Saif 55, Tanzid 58, Ngarava 2-23) beat Zimbabwe 152 (Burl 29, Rishad 4-26, Mahedi 3-24) by 34 runs

Bangladesh ensured their tour of Zimbabwe will end with a decider after squaring the three-match T20I series with a 34-run win in game two in Bulawayo. Put in to bat, Bangladesh innings swayed from the sublime to the ridiculous as Saif Hassan and Tanzid Hasan put on an opening stand of 120 – and both scored half-centuries – helped by five dropped catches.

An uncharacteristically sloppy Zimbabwean side seemed short on plans, with seven bowlers used, and they also spilled a sixth catch at the end of the Bangladesh innings for a forgettable fielding display. In-between those drops, they took five wickets for 21 runs to pull Bangladesh back from a total that seemed headed north of 180.

They got there anyway, thanks to one man. A stunning final-over assault from Mohammad Saifuddin, batting at No.7, plundered 28 runs to push Bangladesh from 158 for 5 to 186. Saifuddin became the first Bangladesh batter to hit four sixes in successive deliveries.

Zimbabwe had only successfully chased a higher score than this only once in their history and needed a big partnership. The closest they got to that was the 44-run fourth wicket stand between Sikandar Raza and Milton Shumba but none of their batters made more than Ryan Burl’s 29. Bangladesh’s spinners did the bulk of the strangling as Mahedi Hasan and Rishad Hossain shared seven wickets between them and conceded just 50 runs in the 46 deliveries they bowled.

Their only concern will be that seamer Nahid Rana left the field midway through his third over, with what seemed to be a side strain.

Has(s)sans stay Saif at the start

A transformed Bangladesh appeared to have no scars from Wednesday’s loss and took the fight to Zimbabwe as early as they could, despite flirting with danger. Brian Bennett opened the bowling with his offspin and was hit for back-to-back boundaries. Then Raza took over from that end and created a chance when Saif, on 8, chipped him to the left of mid-off. The catch was fluffed. Richard Ngarava created pressure and a chance when Saif, on 13, sent him to extra cover but Zimbabwe put down a second.

Finally, Blessing Muzarabani replaced the spin. Saif tried to flick him past deep square leg but there was a man stationed for the flick and he dropped it as well. Saif survived again, on 18. Tanzid had worked his way to six off eight balls at that point and slowly stepped it up. Brad Evans’ first over cost 13 and Bangladesh finished the powerplay on 54 without loss to leave Zimbabwe rattled.

Middle-overs collapse puts brakes on Bangladesh

Tanzid brought up 50 off 33 balls and Saif was dropped twice more, on 37 and 46, before he got to a half-century of 42 balls. With Zimbabwe unable to take a wicket in 14 overs, Bangladesh had an excellent platform to launch from. Instead, Zimbabwe pulled them back.

Saif missed an attempted slog off Raza and was bowled to start a dramatic slide. Ngarava returned for the 16th over, bowled Tanzid off the inside-edge and then, Zimbabwe finally held on to a catch when Clive Madande ran back and dived to grab the ball after Towhid Hridoy mishit Ngarava above cover-point.

Parvez Hossain Emon hit Evans to Raza at long-on and two balls later, then Nurul Hasan was bounced out. Zimbabwe took five wickets in 21 runs in 14 balls and would have fancied their chances of keeping Bangladesh under 170. That was until Saifuddin got hold of Evans’ final over and blasted his team to a serious score,

Seam and spin break through early

In keeping with the bowling trend started by Raza, Bangladesh started with spin. Mahedi was given the new ball and conceded 14 runs off his first three balls and, with a hefty target to chase, Zimbabwe’s plan was to just keep going. Tadiwanashe Marumani tried to send the last ball of the over over the leg side but only got as far as Hridoy at midwicket.

The next over yielded no boundaries and Bennett’s frustration showed when he tried to force Rana over the covers but was beaten for pace and bowled. Mahedi got a second over in the powerplay and burst through Dion Myers’ defences with an arm ball that crashed into middle stump. Zimbabwe were 21 for 3 in the third over and their top order were all back in the change room. Mahedi was bowled out at halfway and finished with 3 for 24.

Burl keeps it burning but Evans must bat higher

Raza scored a quick-fire 28 off 12 balls before being caught behind off Rishad, which brought Burl to the crease in the seventh over. He watched Shumba try a big shot, miss and get bowled and then took the game on when he hit Rishad over midwicket for six. Madande was caught on the deep-square-leg boundary trying to clear the ropes and Burl needed someone to stay with him.

Tashinga Musekiwa understood the assignment. He gave Burl as much strike as possible and ran well between the wickets. Their partnership of 29 runs off 26 balls was slow but kept Zimbabwe within one big over of being on track. Burl was getting bogged down when he cross-batted Rishad to midwicket and two balls later, Musekiwa spliced Saif to Saifuddin.

Zimbabwe were 109 for 8 in the 15th over when Evans got to the crease. He hit the fifth ball he faced straight down the ground for six and then took 15 runs off Taskin Ahmed’s final over but was starved of strike early in the penultimate over and then sliced it to a diving Parvez to all but end Zimbabwe’s innings.

Firdose Moonda is Cricinfo’s senior correspondent for Africa and women’s cricket

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