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Junaid Siddique and Raqibul Hasan were in control of the chase at the halfway mark, despite Tamim Iqbal throwing away a brisk start, leaving Bangladesh well placed to level the five-match ODI series at 1-1.

Tamim's breezy 44 meant Bangladesh needed to score only around three runs an over after his dismissal, and Siddique and Raqibul were doing the job with ease during an unbeaten 43-run stand for the third wicket. While Siddique was quick to drive and loft anything pitched up, Raqibul used his feet efficiently against spin, working the ball around for singles. Chigumbura rotated his bowlers, even turning to the medium pace of Chamu Chibhabha, but Siddique and Raqibul stood firm.

Tamim had earlier got Bangladesh off to a quick start as they came out to bat before lunch. Prosper Utseya opened for Zimbabwe with offspin, and was greeted with a six and a four over mid-off as his three overs went for 19. At the other end, Chris Mpofu surprised Imrul Kayes with sharp bounce and away movement to induce an edge to Tatenda Taibu. Mpofu could have had another one in the same over, but Elton Chigumbura dropped a sitter as Siddique hit airily to mid-off.

Undeterred, Tamim drove the first ball after lunch straight in to the non-striker's stumps, and got across to glance the next two deliveries past short fine leg for boundaries. When Siddique too got going with a perfect back-foot punch through cover, it seemed Bangladesh had learned from the disaster chase two days ago, when most of the batsmen threw away their wickets with reckless shots to fall nine short of 209. But old habits came back to haunt them when Tamim, who had seemed in no trouble as he raced to 44, holed out to Mpofu off Ray Price, looking to send the ball out of the ground again after having hit the previous delivery for six.

Bangladesh slowed down a touch after Tamim's dismissal, with Price being miserly. But unlike the Bangladesh spinners, who had kept up the pressure from both ends, Utseya continued to leak runs. Siddique made Zimbabwe pay for the dropped chance, and along with Raqibul, who replaced Mohammad Ashraful, consolidated the innings.

Abdur Razzak and Shakib Al Hasan did what they have become increasingly adept at, putting the squeeze on Zimbabwe's batsmen on a typically slow Mirpur surface, before Razzak finished them off for 191 with a late hat-trick. The left-arm spin duo picked up nine wickets for 69 runs in 18.2 overs as Zimbabwe struggled almost throughout their innings. Except for a brief period, when 57 came in eight overs during a busy seventh-wicket stand between Craig Ervine and Prosper Utseya, the runs were hard to come by.

Ervine and Utseya showed the way to stuttering top and middle-order batsmen, who had thrown away starts to leave Zimbabwe struggling at 132 for 6 after 37 overs. However, Razzak returned to remove Utseya with the last ball of the 45th over, and then trapped Ray Price and Chris Mpofu leg before with the first two deliveries of the 47th, ensuring Zimbabwe failed to bat 50 overs. Ervine, who played with an urgency that eluded the batsmen preceding him, was stranded on 42.

Ervine had given direction to an innings that was going nowhere as soon as he arrived at the crease. The flighted deliveries from the spinners were driven down the ground and through extra cover, and when the bowlers shortened the length, he went back to work the ball into gaps. He also used the sweeps, conventional and reverse, to good effect. Meanwhile, Utseya targeted the vacant deep-midwicket region, repeatedly swinging the left-arm spinners against the turn over the infield. He also made room outside leg to cut the short deliveries.

At 189 for 6, with more than five overs to go, including four of the batting Powerplay, Zimbabwe were targeting a total in excess of 225, which could have proved difficult to chase. However, Razzak and Shakib orchestrated the late collapse, ensuring Bangladesh would chase well under 200.

Zimbabwe had struggled in the middle overs against the rampant spinners, with Keith Dabengwa and Tatenda Taibu using 104 deliveries for a 48-run stand for the fourth wicket. They were unable to rotate the strike, repeatedly finding the fielders as the slow bowlers kept it flat and tight on the stumps. Both batsmen's dismissals highlighted their frustration at being unable to score: Dabengwa spooned a full toss back to Shakib, while Taibu was given out lbw after missing an attempted reverse sweep for the umpteenth time. Four overs later, Elton Chigumbura swung wildly at Shakib and was bowled as Zimbabwe slid to 132 for 6.

The start hadn't been as bleak for Zimbabwe when Brendan Taylor and Regis Chakabva had taken them to 50 for 1 by the tenth over, despite the early fall of Chamu Chibhabha. However, the introduction of spin as early as the seventh over brought results for Bangladesh. Taylor tried to manufacture a shot against Shakib, skipping down the track and looking to go over extra cover. He only got as far as Raqibul Hasan - playing in place of Mohammad Ashraful - who timed his leap perfectly to take the catch.

In the next over, Chakabva offered a chance to Tamim Iqbal at short fine leg, top-edging a sweep. Tamim ran in and swooped down on the ball, but dropped the takeable catch. The miss didn't cost Bangladesh much as Razzak deceived Chakabva with flight and turn in his next over and Mushfiqur Rahim effected an easy stumping. From 50 for 1, Zimbabwe had slipped to 56 for 3. A period of slow and painful consolidation followed as Dabengwa and Taibu tried to work out how to score against spin without taking too many risks, but the runs were not coming easily.