Imrul Kayes’ third ton in the format helped Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe by 28 runs in the first ODI between the two sides at Dhaka on Sunday.
The hosts put on 272-8 on the board in their 50 overs before restricting the visitors to 243-9.
Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza won the toss and elected to bat first but his side were rocked early by Zimbabwe pacer Tendai Chatara.
The 27-year-old dismissed opener Liton Das for just four before removing Fazle Mahmud for a duck. Chatara’s opening burst reduced the Tigers to 17-2.
Mushfiqur Rahim and Mohammad Mithun both got starts but were unable to convert them into something big. Kyle Jarvis’ three-wicket burst in the middle rocked Bangladesh’s middle-order as the hosts slumped to 139-6.
Kayes, however, was going strong at the other hand and he found excellent support from Mohammad Saifuddin who chipped in with a crucial half-century down the order.
The pair added 127 runs between them for the eighth wicket before Kayes became Jarvis’ fourth victim of the day. The left-hander had collected 144 runs in 140 deliveries before his departure with the help of 13 boundaries and six sixes.
Kyle Jarvis had rocked Bangladesh’s middle-order.
Zimbabwe openers Hamilton Masakadza and Cephas Zhuwao put on a 48-run stand for the first wicket before the former was run-out by Kayes.
Spinners Mehidy Hasan and Nazmul Islam kept a tight lid on things and shared five wickets between themselves to derail Zimbabwe’s chase.
Sean Williams waged a lone battle with a fighting half-century while Jarvis chipped in with 37 lower-order runs but the game had already slipped away from the visitors’ grasp by then as the hosts took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
BRIEF SCORES
Bangladesh: 271-8 (50 overs)
Imrul Kayes – 144 (140)
Mohammad Saifuddin – 50 (69)
Kyle Jarvis – 4/37
Zimbabwe: 243-9 (50 overs)
Sean Williams – 50no (58)
Mehidy Hasan – 3/46
