Richard Ngarava celebrated his debut as Zimbabwe one-day international captain on Monday by scoring 27 and taking three wickets in a 25-run victory over Bangladesh in Harare.
Put in to bat, Zimbabwe were all out for 141 with right-arm quick Nahid Rana capturing six wickets, including that of Ngarava.
Rana (6-21) wreaked havoc in his 10 overs, including two maidens. His figures were the best by a Bangladeshi in an ODI.
But while Zimbabwe struggled to make runs, Bangladesh battled even more. They plummeted to 116 all out with only three batters reaching double figures.
Zimbabwe, fresh from an innings victory over Bangladesh in a one-off test, can clinch the three-match ODI series by winning again on Thursday. The final match is set for Saturday.
Heart. Belief. Discipline. We defend 141 to take a 1-0 lead in the ODI series!
— Zimbabwe Cricket (@ZimCricketv) July 6, 2026
Match Summary 👉 https://t.co/ewxpCWzdau#ZIMvBAN #ExperienceZimbabwe pic.twitter.com/xUwGkzztDY
Newman Nyamhuri top scored for the home team with 33 runs. Ngarava and Innocent Kaia (26) were the other batters to impress.
Sikandar Raza, often a prolific scorer for Zimbabwe, managed just one run before becoming the first victim of Rana, leaving the hosts reeling at 45-4.
A 63-run eighth-wicket stand between Ngarava and Nyamhuri offered Zimbabwe a glimmer of hope and the tourists failed to take advantage despite needing to average just 2.84 runs per over to win.
Only Nurul Hasan (31), Towhid Hridoy (25) and captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz (10) reached double figures.
The lone fruitful partnership came when Hridoy and Nurul Hasan added 49 runs for the fourth wicket before Hridoy was caught by Ben Curran at deep third off the bowling of Nyamhuri (2-22).
Ngarava (3-31) and Brad Evans (3-34) shared the bowling honours for Zimbabwe.