Bangladesh played their first T20 match against Zimbabwe at Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium, Khulna on 28 Nov 2006 when Zimbabwe visited Bangladesh. Shahriar Nafees was leading the Bangladesh team and Prosper Utseya was the captain of Zimbabwe. The captain of the visitors decided to field first after winning the toss.
Nazmus Sadat and the Bangladesh skipper Shahriar Nafees came out to the middle and Gary Brent got the new ball in hand to open the attack. Gary started very well and gave the first breakthrough for his team in the third ball of the game. He sent Nazmus Sadat at the score of 4 runs only.
After the dismissal, Aftab Ahmed came to join Sadat and tried well to handle the early damage. Both of them played aggressively without any pressure and built up a crucial partnership of 53 runs for the 2nd wicket. Aftab and Sadat looked very confident and fearless and had made runs with the strike of over 140 even after losing a wicket in the first over.
Then Chigumbura dismissed Shahriar Nafees for 25 runs from 17 balls in 5.3 overs. In the next over, Aftab Ahmed’s 28 off 19 balls was also sent back by Utseya. Bangladesh lost some wickets at regular intervals but Shakib Al Hasan on the other hand stayed there, and Mashrafe Mortaza in the lower middle order struck important 36 runs from 26 balls that helped Bangladesh to reach 166 runs in 19.5 overs.
Prosper Utseya bowled very well and took 3 wickets for 25 runs, Gary Brent got 2 wickets. Zimbabwe got the target of 167 runs in 20 overs to win the match.
Brendan Taylor and Stuart Matsikenyeri were sent on the pitch to chase the target and Mashrafe Mortaza got the new ball in hand to open the attack. Zimbabwe started with some boundaries by Stuart Matsikenyeri but could not continue it and lost 3 wickets at the score of 25 runs only. Then Hamilton Masakadza and Sean Williams in the middle order tried to cover up the damage and built up 54 runs in pairs. Considering the partnership between them, Bangladesh needed a wicket and that job was completed by Abdur Razzak, he bowled Hamilton Masakadza in 12.1 overs. Then Shakib Al Hasan took the wicket of Sean Williams in 15.5 overs at the score of 104.
Afterward, no batsman could stay longer and they made 123 for 9 wickets in 20 overs and lost the match by 43 runs.
Bangladesh won their first T20 international match by 43 runs. Mashrafe Mortaza was the Man of the Match for his performance; he made match-winning 36 runs off 26 balls, and took 1 wicket. Abdur Razzak took 3 wickets for 17 and Shahadat Hossain got 2 wickets.
Result: Bangladesh won by 43 runs. Scorecard