Despite posting their highest T20 total against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe lost the third match of the three-match series by five wickets Sunday. Bangladesh won the series 2-1 with a five-wicket victory at Harare Sports Club today. Chasing 194, the Tigers failed to have a good start as Mohammad Naim fell prey to Zimbabwe's Blessing Muzarabani for only three. However, Soumya Sarkar stood tall at the other end of the wicket. In the second wicket stand, Soumya and Shakib Al Hasan added 50 runs. Shakib perished on 25 off 13 balls with two sixes and one four. In the third wicket stand, captain Mahmudullah Riyad and Soumya put in another 50-plus partnership. Soumya was dismissed for 68 off 49 balls with nine fours and one six. After his departure, Afif Hossain added 14 runs off five balls. Read: PM greets Tigers for T20 series win against Zimbabwe As the Tigers were just seven runs away from victory, Mahmudullah was removed by Muzarabani. However, youngster Shamim already brought the game back under control with three consecutive fours off Dion Myers in the 18th over. He scored 31 off 15 balls with six fours. Shamim, who made his debut in the second game of the series, had struck 29 off 13 balls but Bangladesh lost the match. Bangladesh needed five runs off the last six balls. Shamim hit a four off the first ball of the last over to level the score. Off the next ball, he got a single and finished the game for the Tigers in 19.2 overs with five wickets in hand.  Muzarabani and Luke Jongwe took two wickets each, but it was not enough for the hosts to avoid a defeat. It was Bangladesh's second-highest successful run chase in T20. Their highest successful run chase in the format is 215 against Sri Lanka.  In Sunday's game, Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza won the toss and chose to bat first. Openers Tadiwanashe Marumani and Madhevere added 63 runs in just 5.6 overs. In the fourth over of the innings, Madhevere struck five fours off Taskin Ahmed. Madhevere took only 13 balls to score 30 runs. Read: Tigers crush Zimbabwe in first T20 match Regis Chakabva struck 48 off 22 balls with six sixes. Soumya Sarkar managed a breakthrough by removing Chakabva and Sikandar Raza in the same over. But it was not enough to restrict Zimbabwe within 150 or 160 runs. Ryan Burl did the final damage with the bat, scoring 31 off 15 balls with three fours and two sixes.  Soumya was the best bowler for Bangladesh, taking two wickets for 19 runs in three overs. However, Saifuddin conceded 50 runs in four overs and bagged only one wicket. Nasum Ahmed, who got in the starting XI for the first time in this series, conceded 37 runs. Bangladesh won the first match of the three-match series, but the hosts made a good comeback in the second. So the third match became the series decider. Before the T20 series, Bangladesh won the three-match ODI series and one-off Test.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Sunday congratulated the Bangladesh cricket team for their T20 series win against the hosts Zimbabwe. In a congratulatory message, the prime minister greeted the players, coaches and officials of the national cricket team. Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe by five wickets today to win the three-match T20 series 2-1.

After five consecutive defeats, Zimbabwe finally beat Bangladesh by 23 runs in the T20 format Friday at the Harare Sports Club. With the win, Zimbabwe restored parity in the second match of the three-match series. The last match of this series will be played on July 25 at the same venue. In Friday's match, Zimbabwe batted first after winning the toss and posted 166/6 in 20 overs. In reply, Bangladesh kept losing the wickets regularly and were bundled out for 143 in 19.5 overs. The Tigers made two changes to starting XI, choosing Taskin Ahmed and the debutant Shamim Hossain over Liton Das and Mustafizur Rahman. Read: Tigers crush Zimbabwe in first T20 match Mohammad Naim and Soumya Sarkar, who shared Bangladesh's first 100-run stand in the opening partnership in the first match, failed to shine this time. Both of them were removed by Blessing Muzarabani within 17 runs. Mahedi Hasan and Shakib Al Hasan managed a good start, scoring 15 and 12 runs but failed to continue. They fell prey to Wellington Masakadza who took three wickets conceding 20 runs in four overs. Debutant left-hand batsman Shamim Hossain scored 29 runs off 13 balls with three fours and one six. Afif Hossain, who played more balls than any of his teammates, perished on 24 off 25 balls. Dismissals of Shamim and Afif ended Bangladesh's chance of winning the match. Read: Tamim, Shohan guide Tigers to ODI series sweep against Zimbabwe Along with Masakadza, Luke Jongwe also bagged three wickets for Zimbabwe while Tendai Chatara and Blessing Muzarabani scalped two wickets each. Earlier, Wessley Madhevere stuck 72 off 57 balls with five fours and three sixes for the hosts. Also, Dion Myers and Ryan Burl scored 26 and 34. For Bangladesh, Shoriful Islam took three wickets while Mahedi Hasan and Shakib took one wicket each.