Ashraful Century Guides Easy win Against Zim

Bulawayo: Bangladesh made light work of their target of 208 as Mohammad Ashraful notched up an unbeaten ton and the Tigers cruised to an eight-wicket win against Zimbabwe.

Bangladesh bowled Zimbabwe out for 207 in the series opener to their five-ODI series in Bulawayo on Sunday.

That was a comprehensive win for Bangladesh, totally outplaying Zimbabwe. On a docile pitch, 207 was just not even runs on the board for Zimbabwe, whose batsmen just couldn't score quickly off Bangladesh's array of spinners.

Junaid and Tamim gave the Bangladesh chase the perfect launchpad, and Ashraful made a near-flawless century to finish the game. Zimbabwe's bowlers need to be more disciplined as well, leaking plenty of extras besides feeding the batsmen with hit-me deliveries.

Mark Vermeulen top-scored for the hosts with 92, while Nazmul Hossain took three wickets for the Tigers.

A disciplined bowling performance restricted Zimbabwe to a below-par 207 before Mohammad Ashraful led the chase with a breezy ton to help Bangladesh clinch a facile win in the first ODI in Bulawayo. Mark Vermeulen hit a fluent 92 on his comeback after five years but didn't find much support from his team-mates.

Brief Score: Bangladesh 211 for 2 (Ashraful 103*, Tamim 63) defeated Zimbabwe 207 (Vermeulen 92) by eight wickets

Scores	Upcoming	Results
West Indies vs Bangladesh - 3rd T20I Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan - 2nd ODI South Africa vs Pakistan - 2nd ODI 3rd ODI - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan - December 21, 07:30 GMT 3rd ODI - South Africa v Pakistan - December 22, 12:00 GMT 3rd Test - Australia v India at Brisbane Match drawn 2nd T20I - West Indies v Bangladesh at St Vincent Bangladesh won by 27 runs

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