Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani combined for eight wickets as Zimbabwe produced a dominant bowling display to defeat Bangladesh by 32 runs in the first T20 International at Queens Sports Club on Wednesday, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Defending a total of 170, Zimbabwe’s pace attack delivered a clinical performance on a surface that offered little assistance to seamers.
Ngarava and Muzarabani bowled in tandem with discipline and aggression, delivering 29 dot balls and consistently unsettling the Bangladesh batters with pace and well-directed short-pitched deliveries.

Muzarabani finished with figures of 4 for 17, equalling his career-best return in T20 Internationals, while captain Ngarava claimed 4 for 35.
Their combined effort bowled Bangladesh out for 138 in 19.1 overs and ensured the hosts never lost control of the chase.

Earlier, Zimbabwe had been inserted to bat and made a positive start through Brian Bennett, who struck 44 off 30 balls.
The innings lost momentum in the middle overs as Bangladesh fast bowler Nahid Rana produced an incisive spell of 4 for 26, while Taskin Ahmed maintained pressure with an economical outing. Zimbabwe slipped to 116 for 4 in the 14th over and appeared set for a below-par total.

Ryan Burl steadied the innings with a composed 30 off 25 balls, before Brad Evans provided a late surge with an unbeaten 19 from just 10 deliveries. The late hitting lifted Zimbabwe to 170 for 6, a score that proved beyond Bangladesh’s reach.

The victory continues Zimbabwe’s strong recent run against Bangladesh under Ngarava’s captaincy, following previous triumphs in the Test and ODI series.
With the bowlers in form and the batting lineup showing resilience under pressure, Zimbabwe will now look to close out the series in the remaining two matches.