Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh series decider live: hosts chase a rare 3-0 sweep in Harare after two nervy ODI wins.
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Zimbabwe Chase a 3-0 Sweep of Bangladesh Nobody Saw Coming
Live — Harare Sports Club, Saturday, July 11 — Zimbabwe have already shut the series down 2-0. Now they want the whole thing.
Zimbabwe don’t clean-sweep Bangladesh. Not since 2001, anyway. That’s the number hanging over Harare Sports Club this Saturday, where Richard Ngarava’s side walked out for the third and final ODI already 2-0 up, and already through to a series win that felt improbable two Mondays ago. Bangladesh won the toss, chose to field, and by the time the first over was done Zimbabwe had crawled to 3 for 0 off Taskin Ahmed — Ben Curran and Brian Bennett watchful, two wides in the mix, nothing settled yet.
It’s an odd position for Bangladesh to be in. They arrived in Zimbabwe on the back of three straight ODI series wins this year, against Pakistan, New Zealand and Australia. Then the batting fell over. Twice.
Two Games, Two Nerve-Shredders
The opener on July 6 set the tone. Zimbabwe were bowled out for just 141, hardly a total to defend, and Bangladesh still couldn’t get there — 116 all out in 33.1 overs, beaten by 25 runs. Nahid Rana took six wickets for 21 that day, the best ODI figures by a Bangladeshi bowler on record. It didn’t matter. His own side’s batting order handed the game straight back.
Game two, three days later, was the one that actually settled the series — and it needed all fifty overs to do it. Ben Curran batted through the entire innings for an unbeaten 111, only the ninth time a Zimbabwean opener has managed that in ODI history. Brad Evans, promoted to No. 8, blitzed 58 not out and hit three sixes off Taskin Ahmed in the final over alone. Zimbabwe posted 247 for 6.
Bangladesh, chasing, looked in complete control at 207 for 5 in the 42nd over. Tanzid Hasan had made 57, Towhid Hridoy 60, and the required rate was falling. Then it wasn’t. Seven wickets fell for 65 runs, Sikandar Raza and Blessing Muzarabani doing most of the damage, and Bangladesh finished 13 runs short. Series done, one game to spare.
| Match | Date | Result | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st ODI | Mon, Jul 6 | Zimbabwe 141, Bangladesh 116 (33.1 ov) | Zimbabwe won by 25 runs |
| 2nd ODI | Thu, Jul 9 | Zimbabwe 247/6, Bangladesh 234 | Zimbabwe won by 13 runs |
| 3rd ODI | Sat, Jul 11 | Zimbabwe batting, 3/0 after 1 over | In progress |
Curran, Evans and a Bowling Attack That Keeps Delivering
Strip away the individual innings and a pattern shows up fast. Fast bowlers have taken 28 of the 35 wickets across this series — a low, two-paced Harare surface doing most of the talking. Zimbabwe’s attack has simply used it better. Ngarava’s third spell in the second ODI read 3-0-26-2, the kind of figures that decide a game quietly, an over or two before the headlines catch up. Evans finished the series opener with two wickets to go with his bat, and Muzarabani has been the release valve at the death in both matches so far.
Worth sitting with for a second — Zimbabwe have now won back-to-back home ODI series against Bangladesh, this one following a 2-1 result in 2022. That’s not a fluke anymore. That’s a pattern.
Bangladesh’s Familiar Collapse
Bangladesh’s problem isn’t top-order class — Tanzid Hasan and Towhid Hridoy have both shown that in this series alone. It’s what happens after. Mustafizur Rahman, their most experienced seam option, has been ruled out for four weeks with hamstring and knee trouble, missing the second ODI and this one too; Shoriful Islam has deputised. Wicketkeeper Litton Das is out with a calf injury, another reshuffle the team management didn’t ask for. Add in a slow, uneven pitch that gets harder to bat on as the day wears — exactly the kind of surface Bangladesh will face at a home World Cup in 2027 — and the collapses start to look less like bad luck and more like an unresolved problem.
Live From Harare: The Series Decider
Saturday’s toss went Bangladesh’s way, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz sent Zimbabwe in — the same decision his side made in both previous games, on a surface that’s offered seam and bounce early and turned sluggish later. Curran and Bennett opened together again, unchanged, because why break a combination that’s worked. Taskin Ahmed’s first over went for 3, two of those byproducts of width rather than anything Zimbabwe manufactured. Early days. Conditions in Harare are expected to stay dry and mild — around 23°C, clear skies, humidity in the 30s — which should suit batting more than the last two tosses did, at least before the pitch tires.
| Player | Team | Series contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Ben Curran | Zimbabwe | 111* (2nd ODI), carried his bat through all 50 overs |
| Brad Evans | Zimbabwe | 58* off a handful of balls, 3 sixes in the last over of the 2nd ODI |
| Richard Ngarava | Zimbabwe (capt) | Match-turning spell of 3-0-26-2 in the 2nd ODI |
| Nahid Rana | Bangladesh | 6/21 in the 1st ODI — best-ever ODI figures by a Bangladeshi bowler |
| Taskin Ahmed | Bangladesh | 4 wickets in 2 matches; 18 wickets in 10 ODIs this year |
| Towhid Hridoy | Bangladesh | 60 in the 2nd ODI chase, part of the fightback that fell short |
What A Clean Sweep Would Mean
Zimbabwe last managed a 3-0 sweep of Bangladesh in any format back in 2001 — that year they did it in ODIs at home, 2-0 in Tests at home, and 3-0 away in Bangladesh’s own backyard. Nothing since. So there’s history sitting on this one game, quietly, even with the series already decided. Bangladesh, for their part, aren’t playing for the trophy anymore. They’re playing to avoid the kind of scoreline that follows a team into a World Cup year.
And that’s really the storyline for Saturday. Not who wins the series — that’s settled — but whether Bangladesh’s top order can finally finish what it starts, and whether Zimbabwe’s attack can find one more twist in a pitch that’s already given them two.
Next Up
Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh
Whatever happens in Harare, the tour isn’t done. Three T20Is follow the ODI series, giving both sides a quick chance to reset the mood one way or the other before they head home. For Zimbabwe, co-hosts of next year’s World Cup alongside South Africa and Namibia, every result this year is being read with half an eye on 2027. For Bangladesh, the more urgent question is simpler — can the middle order hold when it actually matters.
This is a Bangladesh side stacked with individual form and short on collective nerve. Two Harare afternoons have shown exactly where that gap opens up — and Zimbabwe, for now, know precisely how to find it.
FAQs
Zimbabwe were 3 for 0 after one over, having been sent in to bat by Bangladesh at Harare Sports Club on Saturday, July 11. Openers Ben Curran and Brian Bennett were at the crease.
Zimbabwe’s pace attack made better use of a slow, seam-friendly Harare pitch in both completed matches, while Bangladesh’s batting order collapsed from winning positions in the second ODI and never got going in the first.
Ben Curran made an unbeaten 111 off 122 balls, batting through all 50 overs — only the ninth time a Zimbabwean opener has done that in a men’s ODI.
Sources
- ESPNcricinfo — match reports and series schedule (espncricinfo.com);
- Khel Now — 3rd ODI preview and squad details (khelnow.com);
- Crex — live match report and post-match quotes,
- 2nd ODI (crex.com). Live scoring data via SportRadar, accessed July 11, 2026.
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