|| Cricfrenzy Correspondent ||

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafee bin Mortaza said that their tight win against Zimbabwe in the series clinching second ODI’s will help them in future. A thrilling victory in the second match, in which they survived a Donald Tiripano scare to record a four-run victory over Zimbabwe, gave Bangladesh a confidence to inflict whitewash on the visitors for the fourth straight time regardless of any situation.

In the second game on Tuesday, Bangladesh posted a hefty 322-8, their highest total against the Southern African nation, thanks to a record-breaking 158 of Tamim Iqbal but the game went down the wire, vastly due to a 28 ball-52 not out of Tiripano.

The Zimbabwe No. 9 batsman raised a prospect of an unlikely victory with his sheer power-hitting ability as the Bangladesh bowlers found it tough to grip the ball due to excessive dew at night. However, the host found a formula to stop a Zimbabwe juggernaut to win the game finally, a thing which gave the captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza a confidence to whitewash Zimbabwe once again, no matter how tough situation arises in the third and final game.

“I think a win is a win, but it was a close win. We held our nerves well in the win. Winning is something we’ll take to the next match,” Mashrafee told reporters after the match.

‘’When you win a tight game, it gives you a lot of confidence going,’’ he said.

When most of the Bangladeshi players were confident that they could beat Zimbabwe with ease, only Mashrafe warned his side not to take the visitors such lightly, saying that they have the ability to beat Bangladesh because in the recent past they came close to grab a victory in several matches.

Mashrafe’s statement proved preciously right in the second game as Zimbabwe gave the indication that they could beat Bangladesh.

Chasing 323 for victory, Zimbabwe were 225 for 7 in the 42nd over, having lost Sikandar Raza (66) and the tail exposed. But Tiripano, who struck a 28-ball 55, and Tinotenda Mutombodzi gave the hosts quite a scare as they added 80 runs for the eighth wicket. Despite Mutombodzi's dismissal in the final over, Tiripano managed two sixes but with six required off the final ball, he could not pull it off.

"We did not know that this kind of innings [by Tiripano] was waiting for us," Mortaza said after the game on Tuesday (March 3). "It was difficult for them but 70 runs in 40 balls is achievable in modern cricket and the game was on a good wicket. At one stage the match was fifty-fifty and we could have lost the match."