Zimbabwe beat misfiring Bangladesh in last-over thriller to level T20I series

A misfiring batting has led Bangladesh to lose the second Twenty20 International to Zimbabwe in a last-over thriller.

The three-wicket loss means the Africans have ended the tour with a win after being whitewashed 3-0 in the one-dayers.

For the Tigers, they have missed the opportunity to end the 2015 campaign on a winning note since no more international matches are lined up for the rest of the year.

Bangladesh batsmen had put up a poor show again to be bowled out for a below-par 135 for 9.

The batsmen tried to swing their bat at everything after electing to bat but the tourists dealt with them calmly by bowling in tight areas on Sunday.

Chasing 136 for the win, the tourists displayed great resolve as they sailed home with one ball to spare despite struggling at 39 for 5 at one stage.

Bangladesh bowlers dominated the opening half of the Africans' innings with pacer Al-Amin Hossain taking two wickets in his first over.

Opener Sikandar Raza (5) walked back after Mushfiqur Rahman spectacularly held on to an edge before Sean Williams had his stumps rearranged in the next delivery.

Young Mustafizur also struck in his first over, taking out opener Regis Chakabva (4) as the batsman struggled to break free.

Craig Ervine (15) had survived Al-Amin's hat-trick ball despite giving an edge but soon ran himself out before captain Elton Chigumbura gifted his wicket to leave Zimbabwe struggling.

With the game clearly tilting in favour of the hosts, Malcolm Waller walked in and started where he had left off in the last match by hoisting Nasir Hossain for a huge six over deep midwicket.

Waller (40 off 27) and Luke Jongwe (34) mounted a Zimbabwe fightback with a crucial 55-run sixth wicket stand.

They tipped the balance back in their favour with clever rotation of the strike. Waller hammered Arafat Sunny and Nasir for two more sixes to set up a thrilling climax.

With Zimbabwe needing 43 off last five overs, Mashrafe threw the ball to Al-Amin again and he did not disappoint. The pacer took out Jongwe with a short ball that took a top edge to Imrul Kayes in the deep.

Waller combined with Neville Madziva (28) for 24 more to take his side ever closer to the target.

Madziva cracked Al-Amin for successive boundaries in his last over before getting a reprieve in the penultimate over. He was caught behind off Mustafizur but replays showed that the youngster had overstepped.

With the crowd on the edge of their seats, Mashrafe turned to Nasir in the last over with Zimbabwe needing 18 more. 

In his first ball, Nasir had Waller hole out at long-on but Madziva smashed a boundary and two sixes to finish things off.

Zimbabwe seamers Tinashe Panyangara and Madziva had earlier shared five wickets between them to keep Bangladeshi batsmen in check.

The openers gave them a solid start to their innings, racing to 34 in the fourth over.

Tamim Iqbal (21) thumped Madziva for two sixes but the bowler had the last laugh when the left-hander mistimed a pull. 

Kayes (10) soon followed, falling to a fine catch by Williams at point.

Zimbabwe brought on spin early and Mushfiqur Rahim (9) disappointed again when he swept Graeme Cremer straight to Williams in the deep.

Topscorer Anamul Haque (47 off 51 balls) tried to anchor the innings in a 39-run stand with Sabbir Rahman (17) but Cremer trapped the latter leg-before to trigger off a spectacular Bangladesh slide.

The Tigers lost six wickets in a hurry for just 36 runs.

Watching his partners fall at the other end had an effect on a disbelieving Anamul who ran himself out in the last over to cap another appalling batting failure.

Brief scores:

Bangladesh: 135/0 in 20 overs (Tamim 21, Imrul 10, Anamul 47, Mushfiq 9, Sabbir 17, Nasir 3, Mahmudullah 0, Sunny, 5, Mustafizur 1*, Al-Amin 1*; Panyangara 4-0-30-3, madziva 4-0-25-2, Chisoro 4-0-27-1, Williams 4-0-26-0, Cremer 4-0-21-2)

Zimbabwe: 136/7 in 19.5 (Raza 5, Chakabva 4, Williams 0, Ervine 15, Jongwe 34, Chigumbura 0, Waller 34, Madziva 28*, Cremer 0*; Mashrafe 3-0-27-0, Al-Amin 4-0-20-3, Mustafizur 4-0-12-1, Sunny 4-0-26-1, Nasir 3.5-0-45-1)

Result: Zimbabwe win by 3 wickets.

Man-of-the-Match: Neville Madziva

Man-of-the-Series: Malcolm Waller