Hamilton Masakadza smashed a career-best 93 not out as Zimbabwe drew its Twenty20 series against Bangladesh 2-2 with an 18-run victory in the fourth and final match Friday. Masakadza's second half-century in the series powered Zimbabwe to a daunting 180-4 after captain Elton Chigumbura opted to bat first on a batting-friendly pitch. Fast bowler Neville Madziva (4-34) and left-arm spinner Tendai Chisoro (3-17) also returned career-best figures to help dismiss Bangladesh for 162 in 19 overs with 54 from Mahmudullah. Zimbabwe drew the series after losing the first two games. "I thought the guys showed a lot of character to come back from 2-0 down," Masakadza said. "They had a little bit more belief after getting the first victory." Masakadza's 93 off 58 deliveries was the highest score by any Zimbabwe batsman in this format. The host got off to a good start after Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza dismissed Vusi Sibanda (4) in the first over. Zimbabwe would have been two down in the second over had Taskin Ahmed caught Richmond Mutumbami on 10 off Abu Hider at short fine leg. Masakadza then took charge, sharing an 80-run stand for the second wicket with Mutumbami, before a searing yorker from Hider uprooted Mutumbami's leg stump. Malcolm Waller joined Masakadza for a six-hitting spree, combining for 61 off just 30 balls. Waller hit 36 off 18, clobbering three massive sixes and one four before falling to Taskin's yorker. Shakib Al Hasan dismissed Sikandar Raza, via a stumping by Nurul Hasan, for his 50th wicket in T20s for Bangladesh, becoming the first bowler from his country to reach that landmark. Bangladesh gave away just 35 runs in the last five overs with Masakadza's innings including eight boundaries and five sixes. Taskin, Shakib, Hider and Mortaza shared the four wickets. Zimbabwe virtually finished the game by quickly reducing Bangladesh to 17-4. "You can't play shots from the beginning," Mashrafe said. "Our batsmen were over-excited which led to our downfall." Madziva dismissed the two openers — Soumya Sarkar (11) and Tamim Iqbal (1) in his first over. Chisoro then dealt another double blow. He first claimed in-form Sabbir Rahman for just a single and two balls later got the big wicket of Shakib (4). Mahmudullah, who was going through a bad patch, finally regained his form. He gave Bangladesh an outside hope by sharing two significant partnerships — 36 and 57 —with Imrul Kayes (18) and Nurul Hasan (15). After hitting 54 off 41 with five fours and two sixes, Mahmudullah was the seventh batsman out as Chisoro claimed his third wicket. Mashrafe entertained the crowd in his 12 ball-22 but that only reduced the margin of defeat. Madziva added two wickets in his last and penultimate over of the innings. — AP
