Masakadza Confident after Bangla Touchdown

[CrimsonAvenger]

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=163796

The Zimbabwe cricket team arrived in Dhaka yesterday hoping for some competitive cricket against the in-form Tigers during their five-match one-day international series.

Despite Bangladesh's recent 4-0 drubbing of New Zealand on home soil, Zimbabwe's leading batsman Hamilton Masakadza believes the Africans have a better side than the Kiwis and would play good cricket in these conditions.

"Definitely Bangladesh is a difficult opposition at home but still we are looking for a very competitive series. I think it would be a bit different series than the one against the Kiwis as we have had the experience to play in Bangladesh quite often. And I think we are better prepared than the Kiwis," said Masakadza while talking to reporters at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

He also said that it's an added advantage for their side that a number of players are very experienced to play in this kind of conditions.

"We have been here a few times and we know what the conditions are and how the wickets behave. We are also aware about the dew factor and that's why we are looking forward to the series," opined Masakadza.

"Even in the past we played quite competitively and the games were very close on a number of occasions so I can tell you again it will be a very competitive series," he added.

Strength wise he also didn't find any difference between the two teams as both rely on the spin bowlers.

"I don't think there is too much difference between the teams in terms of strength because both teams depends on their spin bowlers and both teams have

a few guys who can strike the ball hard up in the order," observed Masakadza.

Masakadza also said that there was no shortage of confidence after his side's recent impressive performance against South Africa and in the domestic T20 competition.

"The guys played very well against South Africa especially the batters were very good and the guys also performed in T20 cricket. They are full of confidence in the team," he said.

He was also confident that his side could accustom themselves with the conditions before the first one-dayer to be held at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on December 1.

Zimbabwe will play a limited-over warm-up match against BCB XI on November 29 at BKSP.

"The condition is definitely different but it's just a matter of adjusting and we have a few days in hand to practice before we start the series proper. We are hopeful that the boys will take the opportunity to get adjusted to the conditions," hoped Masakadza.

"I think the main thing is to prepare for the World Cup as the guys will be returning to the subcontinent to play (the World Cup) and obviously they will try for a series win," he added.

The second (December 3) and third one-dayers (December 6), which will be day-nighters, will also be held at Mirpur and after that the teams will travel to Chittagong to play the remaining two games scheduled for December 10 and 12 at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.

[eugene]

Impressive performances against South Africa? Did I miss those matches? The series against South Africa was a complete embarrasment.

[maehara]

Impressive performances against South Africa? Did I miss those matches? The series against South Africa was a complete embarrasment.

The results were, yes, thanks to our completely toothless bowling in the series.

Generally agreed by CricInfo and other sites like that our batting was pretty good through the series, though.

[sloandog]

Ya our batting and fielding stood up and performed well. It was a big series for BRM and Chamu Chibahba

[eugene]

Our batting was good against South Africa, but unfortunately cricket is also about bowling. Every game against South Africa was over after 10 overs of the South African innings. It was possibly the worst bowling performance in an ODI series by a full-member country ever.

[Kriterion_BD]

the good news, eugene, is that our wickets are not as flat as the ones you saw in South Africa.

the bad news of course is if they make a raging turner (with bounce) at Chittagong, you might get shot out for 43 all out this time.

I'd be lying if I was expecting anything other than a win. Conservatively, I would predict a 4-1 result in favor of BD, but I'd be happy though not surprised if it was better than that.

I'm wondering, what do you guys think is a result Zimbabwe can take pride in when they go back home and come back to Asia in a few months time for the WC? Would a 2-3 loss go down well back at home? Is nothing less than series victory expected here?

[Eshen]

According to Heath Streak, there will be a Test match when Zimbabwe host Bangladesh next June/July. There should have been a four-day match (against Bangladesh A-team) at the end of the current tour to assess how much progress Zimbabwean players made in the longer version of the sport.

[eugene]

To be honest I think a 3-2 Bangladesh series win would be a good result for this Zimbabwe team. Our batsmen aren't great at playing spin and Bangladesh are very confident after hammering a New Zealand team that is better than the current Zimbabwe team.

[Eshen]

Well, unlike Zimbabwe, one-season domestic league wonders don't get direct entry into the Bangladesh national team nowadays. But they will get a chance in the practice match, along with few national team discards and BCB Academy players.

BCB XI for the practice match -

Fazle Rabbi (Highest scorer in the one-day league)
Jahurul Islam (National team discard)
Shahriar Nafees (Captain, national team discard)
Farhad Hossain (Academy player)
Alok Kapali (National team discard)
Saghir Hossain (WK)
Asif Ahmed (Academy player)
Marshall Ayub (Academy player)
Mahmudul Hasan (Academy player)
Noor Hossain (Best spinner from the one-day league)
Kamrul Islam Rabbi (Highest wicket taker in the one-day league)
Syed Rasel (National team discard)
Robiul Islam (National team discard)
Alauddin Babu (Academy player)

Understandably, BCB is not fielding any SLA in the match. Leggie Noor is the only specialist spinner in the team. He will be backed by allrounders such as Fazle (LB), Farhad (OB), Alok (LB), Asif (OB), and Mahmud (OB).

[Kriterion_BD]

To be honest I think a 3-2 Bangladesh series win would be a good result for this Zimbabwe team. Our batsmen aren't great at playing spin and Bangladesh are very confident after hammering a New Zealand team that is better than the current Zimbabwe team.

I'd agree...I would have accepted a similar 2-3 loss to NZ a few weeks back as signs of some progress. So 3-2 to BD would be a good start for ZIM, as it would not go down well in Bangladesh. However, given that ZIM has pushed BD to 2-2 as recently as Jan 2009, I'd imagine that its within the bounds of reason to even ask for a series win here. But the latest results indicate that perhaps 3-2 to BD would be more than adequate for ZIM to prove that they're building on their tri series performance from last summer.