Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe by three wickets after struggling to reach a 194-run target, as Gary Brent offered some Zimbabwe resistance _ taking four wickets for 16 runs _ in the fifth and final limited-overs international cricket match Saturday.
Chasing Zimbabwe's total of 193-8, Bangladesh started off well, with openers Shahriar Nafees and Mehrab Hossain notching 86 _ before man of the match Brent struck.
Brent had Nafees (33) and Aftab Ahmed (4) trapped lbw in just three balls. He then bowled out Mohammad Ashraful (14) and Hossain, whose innings of 45 off 98 balls was Bangladesh's highest.
``It took us five games to get going. With 20 more runs, we could have won today,'' Brent said.
Brent, who finished with figures of 22-4, also took a diving catch to dismiss Mashrafee Bin Mortaza for a duck off Anthony Ireland.
Sakib Al Hasan (11) and Farhad Reza (5) were both run out.
Captain Habibul Bashar (32) and Mushfiqur Rahim (15) were batting when Bangladesh reached the winning target, losing seven wickets with an over to spare.
``We worked hard in this series,'' said Bashar, whose side clinched the five-match series 5-0. ``At the moment, we are very happy.''
Shahriar Nafees was adjudged man of the series for scoring most runs.
Earlier, opening batsman Stuart Matsikenyeri's half-century helped Zimbabwe tally 193 runs for eight wickets _ with Mortaza capturing three wickets for Bangladesh _ after Bashar won the toss and invited the visitors to bat first at Dhaka's Mirpur Stadium.
Matsikenyeri hit his fifty off 75 balls with six boundaries, and went on to top score for the visitors _ notching 75 off 114 balls with seven boundaries _ before being dismissed by Mehrab Hossain.
His opening partner Titotenda Mawoyo (10) was bowled out by Syed Rasel, while Chamunorwa Chibhabha was run out at 27 with Zimbabwe at 91.
Zimbabwe lost the next six wickets for 55 runs, reaching 193 in the allocated 50 overs.
Mortaza bowled Sean Williams (14), Gary Brent (3) and skipper Prosper Utseya (2) to make 36-3.
Hossain had Elton Chigumbura (27) caught behind by wicketkeeper Rahim, who also stumped Mluleki Nkala (13) off Razzak.
