Taylor and Ervine lift Zimbabwe to 271 after top-order collapse

Zimbabwe 271 for 8 (Ervine 93, Taylor 81, Taskin 3-44) vs Bangladesh

Craig Ervine and Brendan Taylor rescued Zimbabwe from a tough start to help them post 271 for 8 against Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi. The pair added 150 runs for the fourth wicket after Taskin Ahmed removed Zimbabwe's top three inside seven overs.

Taylor took on the Bangladesh bowling with a flurry of boundaries, reaching his first ODI half-century in six years. He also went past Andy Flower's Zimbabwe record for most runs in the format. Ervine added quick runs after Taylor fell, although he missed out on a century.

Taskin cracked open Zimbabwe's top order in the first over. Brian Bennett was the first to fall, trapped lbw. He could consider himself slightly unlucky as he was given out lbw on the umpire's call, even though the delivery was projected to clip the top of the bails.

Ben Curran's lbw decision was much closer with Taskin's in-ducker striking him on the back pad. Debutant Tafadzwa Tsiga struck three fours before skying one off Taskin to wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan.

Taylor and Ervine, however, wasted little time in lifting Zimbabwe's innings. Taylor started with a beautiful cover drive off Shoriful Islam, before Ervine cut Taskin for his first four. Taylor played his trademark ramp shot against Mustafizur Rahman before finding a cluster of boundaries in the next couple of overs.

When captain Towhid Hridoy introduced the spinners, the two experienced Zimbabwe batters banked on their sweeps and reverse sweeps. Taylor had already gone past Flower's Zimbabwe record by the time he reached his half-century in the 25th over.

He struck Rishad for a sweep and an inside-out shot, both going for fours, in the following over, to bring up their century stand. The pair, however, went through about eight overs without a boundary, as Bangladesh applied the squeeze. One ball after they reached 150 in their partnership, Hridoy's gamble to introduce Saif Hassan as the seventh bowler paid off.

Taylor reverse swept Saif into Mosaddek Hossain's grasp, falling for 81 off 101 balls with ten fours. Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza was next to go, as Saif had him caught behind for four, with Nurul Hasan taking a good catch down the leg side. The ball struck Raza on his gloves and the front of his bat, before clipping the top edge.

Wessley Madhevere and Ervine shrugged off the two wickets with another string of seven boundaries. Madhevere, however, fell sweeping Rishad, before a slower ball from Shoriful had Ervine caught behind in the 44th over. Brad Evans departed in the same fashion, to the same bowler, as Zimbabwe suddenly struggled to push towards a total above 250.

Wellington Masakadza and Newman Nyamhuri, though, gave them a final thrust with a 37-run stand for the ninth wicket, with the tail-enders hitting three sixes between them.