HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Ryan Burl rescued Zimbabwe from 67-6 and gave it a good enough total to beat Bangladesh by 10 runs and clinch its first Twenty20 series over a full ICC member on Tuesday.
Burl's 54 from 28 balls batting at No. 7 propelled the home team to 156-8 at Harare Sports Club.
Bangladesh only managed 146-8 in its 20 overs and Zimbabwe claimed the series-deciding third game for a small slice of history.
Zimbabwe has been playing T20 cricket since 2006 and hadn't beaten a fellow top-tier team in a multi-game series before.
The win capped a good few weeks for one of cricket's strugglers after Zimbabwe won a qualifying tournament on home soil last month to seal a place at the T20 World Cup in Australia in October and November.
Burl's contribution was invaluable after Zimbabwe's top order failed. He hit two fours and six sixes in his half-century and four of those sixes came in the same over as he plundered 34 runs off Nasum Ahmed in the 15th over.
Luke Jongwe supported Burl with 35 off 20 and their lower-order partnership of 79 off 31 deliveries set up Zimbabwe's victory.
Afif Hossain top-scored for Bangladesh with 39 not out and the tourists threatened, but Zimbabwe held them off with the help of seamer Victor Nyauchi's 3-29.