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Charles Coventry may have rattled up a record-equalling 194 not-out in the 4th ODI against Bangladesh, but with the rest of the Zimbabwe team failing to follow his example it wasn't enough to prevent the home side sliding to another loss - and in the process handing Bangladesh an unassailable lead in what both coach Walter Chawaguta and captain Prosper Utseya had labelled a "must win" series.

Having won the toss and elected to bat, Zimbabwe suffered their usual batting woes. Coventry was in imperious form, coming in at third to steady the innings after the early departure of Mark Vermeulen and playing an attacking and yet sensible game, but while he powered his way to 194 not-out - equalling the highest individual ODI score in the process - the players around him only ever played cameo roles, with only Stuart Matiskenyeri (37) and Hamilton Masakadza (21) passing twenty. Zim reached 312/8 from their 50 overs, but on a pitch that was a batting paradise that was still some way short of the safety mark, and the failure of most of Zim's batsmen to kick on, combined with a mid-innings lull that saw almost 10 overs pass without a boundary, would soon come back to haunt the home side.

The Bangladesh reply took the slow & steady approach - with Zim's bowling attack having real problems breaching the batsmens' defences, the visitors were able to work patiently on building their total, led by a determined and composed innings by Tamim Iqbal, who looked on course to overshadow Coventry's efforts before finally holing out for 154. With wickets kept in hand, the side were able to take their chances in the closing overs without fear of being bowled out, finally overhauling their target with 13 balls remaining to win by 4 wickets. Ray Price was the most successful of the Zimbabwean bowlers, taking 3/60, while only he and Prosper Utseya managed an economy rate of lower than 7/over - too costly an attack, under the circumstances.

That leaves Bangladesh assured of the series win, with a 3-1 lead and only one match to play, and Coventry holding the inenviable record of largest individual score in a losing cause. As ever, there's a post-mortem being carried out in the forums, with discussion split between blaming the players and blaming the processes that support those players - an interesting read, at least. For now, though, Zimbabwe have to look forward to the final ODI on Tuesday, when all that's at stake is pride. Full scorecard for this match is below the cut, and we'll see you on Tuesday.
Zimbabwe 312/8 (50 overs; Coventry 194*, Enamul Haque jnr 2/52), Bangladesh 313/6 (47.5 overs; Tamim Iqbal 154, Price 3/60). Bangladesh win by 4 wickets.

Zimbabwe innings (50 overs maximum)  	                        R  	M  	B  	4s  	6s  	SR
MA Vermeulen 	c Junaid Siddique b Mahbubul Alam 	        5 	2 	5 	1 	0 	100.00
H Masakadza 	c Raqibul Hasan b Mohammad Ashraful 	        21 	55 	36 	1 	1 	58.33
CK Coventry 	not out 	                                194 	191 	156 	16 	7 	124.35
BRM Taylor† 	lbw b Enamul Haque jnr 	                        9 	20 	18 	0 	0 	50.00
SC Williams 	b Naeem Islam 	                                4 	9 	10 	0 	0 	40.00
S Matsikenyeri 	run out (Shakib Al Hasan/†Mushfiqur Rahim) 	37 	68 	55 	1 	0 	67.27
E Chigumbura 	c Naeem Islam b Enamul Haque jnr 	        15 	19 	12 	1 	1 	125.00
MN Waller 	b Mahbubul Alam 	                        3 	8 	5 	0 	0 	60.00
T Mupariwa 	lbw b Syed Rasel 	                        0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0.00
P Utseya* 	not out 	                                7 	2 	3 	1 	0 	233.33
	Extras 	(b 1, lb 3, w 12, nb 1) 	                17 
	Total 	(8 wickets; 50 overs) 	                        312 	(6.24 runs per over)

Did not bat: RW Price
Fall of wickets1-5 (Vermeulen, 1.3 ov), 2-87 (Masakadza, 15.2 ov), 3-102 (Taylor, 20.4 ov), 
4-111 (Williams, 23.5 ov), 5-218 (Matsikenyeri, 41.2 ov), 6-282 (Chigumbura, 46.4 ov), 
7-302 (Waller, 48.6 ov), 8-303 (Mupariwa, 49.2 ov)

Bowling 	        O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ
Syed Rasel 	        9 	1 	52 	1 	5.77 	(2w)
Mahbubul Alam 	        8 	0 	63 	2 	7.87 	(5w)
Shakib Al Hasan 	9 	0 	70 	0 	7.77 	(3w)
Enamul Haque jnr 	9 	0 	51 	2 	5.66 	(1nb)
Mahmudullah 	        6 	0 	32 	0 	5.33 	(2w)
Mohammad Ashraful 	4 	1 	11 	1 	2.75
Naeem Islam 	        5 	0 	29 	1 	5.80


Bangladesh innings (target: 313 runs from 50 overs) 	R 	M 	B 	4s 	6s 	SR
Tamim Iqbal 	        c sub (V Sibanda) b Price 	154 	191 	138 	7 	6 	111.59
Junaid Siddique 	c Williams b Masakadza 	        38 	48 	27 	5 	0 	140.74
Mohammad Ashraful 	c Coventry b Price 	        10 	30 	28 	0 	0 	35.71
Raqibul Hasan 	        b Price 	                35 	68 	55 	1 	0 	63.63
Mushfiqur Rahim† 	lbw b Utseya 	                15 	30 	15 	0 	0 	100.00
Mahmudullah 	        not out 	                21 	16 	11 	4 	0 	190.90
Naeem Islam 	        not out 	                4 	6 	4 	0 	0 	100.00
	Extras 	        (lb 1, w 15, nb 1) 	        17
	Total 	        (6 wickets; 47.5 overs) 	313 	(6.54 runs per over)

Did not bat: Mahbubul Alam, Syed Rasel, Enamul Haque jnr

Fall of wickets: 1-68 (Junaid Siddique, 9.4 ov), 2-94 (Mohammad Ashraful, 16.5 ov), 
3-213 (Raqibul Hasan, 36.2 ov), 4-246 (Shakib Al Hasan, 39.6 ov), 5-279 (Tamim Iqbal, 44.3 ov), 
6-300 (Mushfiqur Rahim, 46.4 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ
T Mupariwa 	8.5 	0 	65 	0 	7.35 	(1nb, 2w)
E Chigumbura 	9 	0 	63 	0 	7.00 	(2w)
P Utseya 	10 	0 	46 	1 	4.60 	(2w)
H Masakadza 	7 	0 	52 	2 	7.42 	(3w)
RW Price 	10 	0 	60 	3 	6.00 	(2w)
MN Waller 	3 	0 	26 	0 	8.66 	(2w)