DHAKA, Jan 21: Raqibul Hasan scored an unbeaten 52 off 100 balls to guide Bangladesh to a series-levelling six-wicket win in the second one-day international against Zimbabwe here on Wednesday. Raqibul, 21, hit seven fours for his fifth one-day half-century and shared 52 runs for the third wicket with Mehrab Hossain (43) as Bangladesh surpassed a modest target of 160 with 31 balls to spare.

The win helped Bangladesh level the three-match series 1-1 after Zimbabwe won the opening game by two wickets on Monday.

The third and final one-dayer will be played here on Friday.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim hoisted Zimbabwe seamer Tawanda Mupariwa for a four and followed it up with a six over long-on to finish the game in style.

Bangladesh were in a hole at 94-3 but Raqibul and Mehrab — brought in as a replacement for opener Junaid Siddique — repaired the damage with their sensible batting. Mehrab hit five fours in his 85-ball knock before being caught by Zimbabwe skipper Prosper Utseya at mid-wicket off veteran Raymond Price (1-20).

Man of the match Raqibul brought up his fifty with a clip off Mupariwa to deep midwicket while Shakib Al Hasan chipped in with a cameo 24-ball 22 with three fours. Sean Williams and Utseya earlier shared a valuable 96-run stand for the seventh wicket to lift their side up from a precarious 47-6 in the 19th over after being put in to bat.

Williams (59) hit three fours and a six for his eighth one-day half-century before being run out by Mashrafe Mortaza who also had Utseya trapped leg-before for 38.

Utseya’s patient 101-ball 38 included two fours and a six.

Paceman Nazmul Hossain was the pick of the Bangladesh bowlers, grabbing 3-28 off 10 disciplined overs while his new-ball partner Mortaza also returned impressive figures of 2-22.

Rubel Hossain finished with two wickets to underline a fine effort by the host bowlers.

Scoreboard

Zimbabwe:

V. Sibanda lbw b Nazmul 7

H. Masakadza c Rubel b Nazmul 17

S. Matsikenyeri run out 10

T. Taibu c Mehrab b Rubel 3

S. Williams run out 59

E. Chigumbura b Nazmul 1

M. Waller b Rubel 1

P. Utseya lbw b Mortaza 38

R. Price b Mortaza 7

T. Mupariwa not out 1

EXTRAS: (LB-6,W-8,NB-2) 16

TOTAL: (for 9 wkts; 50 overs) 160

FALL OF WKTS: 1-26, 2-29, 3-37, 4-45, 5-46, 6-47, 7-143, 8-159, 9-160

BOWLING: Mortaza 10-1-22-2 (nb1), Nazmul 10-1-28-3, Rubel, 8-2-29-2 (W1,NB1), Shakib 10-3-24-0 (W4), Naeem 9-0-39-0 (W3), Riyad 3-0-12-0

Bangladesh:

T. Iqbal b Mupariwa 21

M. Hossain c Utseya b Price 43

M. Ashraful c Utseya b Rainsford 5

R. Hassan not out 52

S. Al Hasan c Taibu b Utseya 22

M. Rahim not 13

EXTRAS: (B-5,W-3) 8

TOTAL (for 4 wkts, 44.5 overs) 164

FALL OF WKTS: 1-32 2-42 3-94 4-135

BOWLING: Rainsford 9-0-33-1, Utseya 10-1-24-1 (2-w), Mupariwa 8.5-1-35-1, Chigumbura 6-0-35-0 (1-w), Price 10-0-20-1, Williams 1-0-12-0

Result: Bangladesh won by six wickets

Man-of-the-match: Roqibul Hassan

UMPIRES: Zameer Haider (PAK), Enamul Hoque (BD.

TV UMPIRE: Nadir Shah (BD)

MATCH REFEREE: Alan Hurst (AUS). —AFP