BCB XI faltered to a seven-wicket defeat against the Zimbabweans during their only warm-up match at Fatullah today ahead of the triangular T20I series, starting from tomorrow at the Sher-e-Bangla National stadium in Mirpur.

The Zimbabweans romped to a comfortable victory, chasing down Bangladesh's 142 for seven with 16 balls to spare.

Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim, who was not originally included in the squad for the match but had expressed his desire to get some batting practice after the Tigers' disappointing Chattogram Test against Afghanistan, turned out for BCB XI. It was also learned from a source close to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) that Mushfiqur had reached the ground well ahead of time. The 32-year-old was already seen practising when the team management arrived at the ground at around 10:00 am for the match that was scheduled to start at 12:00 pm.

In contrast, Sabbir Rahman, who was named in the BCB XI squad on Tuesday, had missed the team bus. The right-handed batsman did however manage to feature for BCB XI. However, Sabbir's tardiness has stirred some comments from a BCB official.

"At this time in Bangladesh cricket, when the team is facing some tough times, the expectation from this batch of cricketers is very high and they should act more professionally." the official told The Daily Star under condition of anonymity yesterday.

Going back to the game, it was Sabbir (30 off 31) and Mushfiqur (26 off 26) who strung together a 53-run third-wicket stand after BCB XI had lost both openers within the first seven overs following their decision to bat first. But no other batsmen got going as BCB XI managed 142 for seven.

After the exchange, Brendan Taylor's unbeaten 44-ball 57 and Timycen Maruma's unbeaten 28-ball 46 helped the visitors get an easy victory.