Sarkar and Kayes tons seal 3-0 whitewash

Bangladesh 288 for 3 (Sarkar 117, Kayes 115) beat Zimbabwe 286 for 5 (Williams 129*, Taylor 75) by seven wickets

Chittagong: Imrul Kayes and Soumya Sarkar each scored a century as Bangladesh thrashed Zimbabwe by seven wickets in the third One-Day International to complete a whitewash in the three-match series in Chittagong on Friday.

Kayes made 115 off 112 balls and Soumya hit 117 off 92 balls to guide Bangladesh to 288 for 3, after Sean Williams’ career-best 129 not out helped Zimbabwe post 286 for 5 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.

Chasing a modest target, Bangladesh lost a wicket in the very first ball of the innings when opener Liton Das was judged leg before off Kyle Jarvis, but Kayes and Soumya put together a record 220 runs for the second wicket to put the hosts on course. Soumya, who was playing his first match in the series, led the charge with nine fours and six sixes.

Zimbabwe had to wait until the 30th over for their second success when Hamilton Masakadza forced Soumya to give a catch to Doland Tiripano at long on, but Kayes remained firm to complete his second century in the series.

Kayes, who hit 10 fours and two sixes in his fourth ODI century, earlier made 144 and 90 in the previous two matches to take his tally in the series to 349, the highest by a Bangladeshi in a bilateral three-match series, overtaking Tamim Iqbal’s 312 against Pakistan in 2015.

Earlier, Williams struck an unbeaten hundred to guide Zimbabwe to 286-5.

Williams hit a career best 129 off 143 balls, and shared 132 runs with Brendan Taylor for the third wicket -- helping Zimbabwe recover from 6-2 to post their highest score at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium after they were sent in.

Needing a win to avoid a whitewash in the three-match series, Taylor made 75, his second successive fifty in the series, which came from 72 balls with eights fours and two sixes.

Williams -- who smashed 10 fours and a six in his second ODI hundred -- then added 84 runs with Sikandar Raza (40) for the fourth wicket after Taylor fell to left-arm spinner Nazmul Hossain.

Nazmul was the pick of the Bangladeshi bowlers with 2-58. Bangladesh won the first two matches of the series by 28 runs and seven wickets respectively.