Sikandar Raza and Innocent Kaia struck brilliant centuries to help Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh in an ODI after nine years.null
The pair added 192 runs for the fourth wicket – breaking a 25-year old partnership record and becoming the new best for Zimbabwe against Bangladesh. Raza and Kaia also became only the second Zimbabwean duo to score centuries in the same ODI innings. To think they actually came together when the score was 62 for 3 and the game was almost slipping away from them.
Kaia displayed a refreshing batting approach, concentrating on keeping the ball all along the ground. Still he picked up 11 fours and maintained a strike rate of 90.16 by running himself ragged for those ones and twos. He hit two two sixes over midwicket, but he never tried to out-hit the man of the moment.
Raza, recently named Player of the Series at the T20 World Cup qualifier, grabbed the game with both hands and struck 14 boundaries including six sixes, the last of which was the winning hit. He had earlier been their best bowler too, taking 1-48.
Bangladesh would rue their poor finishing with the bat as they become the fourth team in ODI history to lose a game in which they lost only two wickets.
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