Bangladesh ended a five-year victory drought when they beat Zimbabwe by eight runs in the third one-day international on Wednesday. The visitors scored 238 for seven after being put into bat before restricting Zimbabwe to 230 for nine to seal their first win since beating Pakistan by 62 runs in the 1999 World Cup.It was only their fourth victory in 83 one-day internationals and captain Habibul Bashar left the field at the end of the game wiping tears of joy from his eyes. Bashar earlier scored 61, his eighth one-day half-century, off 80 balls to lay a solid foundation for his team, adding 114 for the third wicket with Rajin Saleh who contributed a cautious 57. Mohammad Ashraful ended his team’s innings unbeaten on 51 off just 32 balls, including five fours. Bangladesh’s sixth century stand in one-day matches ended in the 37th over when Bashar mistimed a pull off left-arm spinner Grant Flower and spooned a catch to Dion Ebrahim at wide mid-on.Saleh went in the 42nd over when lofted a ball from fast bowler Sean Ervine to Douglas Hondo at long-on.The runouts of Mohammad Rafique, for six, Mushfiqur Rahman, for a duck off a no-ball, and Khaled Mahmud, for 22, threatened to derail Bangladesh’s promising innings.Zimbabwe’s reply began shakily when seamer Tareq Aziz trapped Flower lbw for two in the fourth over. Barney Rogers and Stuart Carlisle wrested back the advantage with an aggressive second-wicket stand of 109 off 116 balls. But Zimbabwe’s spiral to defeat began in the 22nd over when Rogers drove a ball from medium pacer Mushfiqur Rahman to Alok Kapali at point. Rogers’ dismissal, for 51 scored off 63 balls with seven fours and a six, marked the beginning of a slide that claimed eight wickets for 109 runs.Carlisle was fifth out for 71, scored off 97 balls and featuring seven fours, when he advanced down the pitch to a ball from Left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique and sent a looping catch.Brief scoresBangladesh: 238-7 in 50 overs (H Bashar 61, Rajin Saleh 57, M Ashraful 51 n.o) vs Zimbabwe: 230-9 in 50 overs (B.Rogers 51, S Carlisle 71, H Streak 30, T Aziz 3-38, M Rahman 2-30, M Rafique 2-33)
