The fifth and the final ODI of the Zimbabwe-Bangladesh series will be played on Thursday. The Bangladeshis have already won the series 3-1, but there will be much to fight for in this game, as the Zimbabweans would want to take something positive away from the series after they had capitulated to 44 all out in the previous game. In turn, Bangladesh will want to avenge their first game’s loss by making it four in a row in the series.
After the abject surrender by Zimbabwe, it is difficult to see them rebound to a win in the final game. In fact, the way I see it, they will do well to bat through 50 overs of the game and then compete in the game. On the other hand, Bangladesh have grown from strength to strength and will look to make the most of it.
Abdur Razzaq is their biggest strength and for now, the opposition has not been able to find solutions to his bowling. Another reasonable performance and he should be the front-runner for the man of the series award. The Zimbabweans have almost got into a mental block against him and that will be the biggest tester for them.
For now, it does not seem too likely that offer of 4.0 by Bet365 for a Zimbabwean win may not have too many takers as compared to 1.29 by Stan James for the hosts to make it 4-1.