Match Thread - Zimbawe v Bangladesh 1st Test

[Kriterion_BD]

Thanks for being around. It is brave when things are this rough. You add lots to the forum with your perspectives.

Thanks to all for the kind words. I am not unbiased, though, lol. I still believe we are the "better team", although I will 200% concede that the better team during the last 4 days won by 335 runs, and that sure as hell wasn't us.

Honestly, though I think both ZIM and BD suffer from mental lapses. For ZIM there could be a myriad reasons why they don't have their heads in the game when they play, but I think they fail to do what they did against us. Bangladesh doesn't handle pressure well at all. Its not a new thing either. Against other teams, there is no pressure and we've done "well". When there is pressure we've played like minnows (last over of the Asia Cup final, 4th innings vs WI last year) to name a few examples. Against ZIM the pressure of winning creates a lack of clarity of thought.

ZIM's seam attack is clearly better than ours. We don't have to discuss names here. Our spin attack is stronger, and I would say our batsman are stronger as well. Apart from Taylor, the rest of the ZIM batters didn't do much better than ours. The difference was in Taylor + the seam attack's superiority.

I also think that our teams are heavily reliant on conditions. Then again so are the top sides...India lost 4-0 in Australia, and Australia lost 4-0 in India. Does this mean either or both are crap sides? So too, BD sucks in ZIM conditions, and ZIM (based on ODI records) would likely suck in BD.

Ultimately this means that not a whole lot seperates the two sides. Which speaks volumes for you, since your population, player base, economy, and administration are all significantly smaller than ours.

[herb]

its nice to see a bangladesh fan being gracious in defeat. A quick look at the social network and you will see some shameful comments from some bd fans. Plenty of insults and there was even some blatant racism from one fan. sad

[betterdays]

I do not want to congratulate you guys, but you've deserved it. Thoroughly shocked and numb.

This was massive.

Atleast Bangladesh have proved that they can compete with the best. Zimbabwe simply haven't since 2011. Always nice to have an unbiased Bangladesh fan on board

Not entirely true...we did compete with NZ and PK at home. I won't spend time defending BD today as i actively voice my support when they play anyone but Zim. We simply were in a better place than they were this time...and Taylor stepped up like I hope he will continue to

[betterdays]

Any highlight links. My usual sources have not produced

[zimfan93]

http://icricketbuzz.com/zimbabwe-beat-b ... -335-runs/

The link for highlights is at the bottom of the article, should be able to find links for days 1-3 on the same site. Enjoy

[betterdays]

http://icricketbuzz.com/zimbabwe-beat-b ... -335-runs/

The link for highlights is at the bottom of the article, should be able to find links for days 1-3 on the same site. Enjoy

Cheers for that!

[Jemisi]

@ Kriterion, I think the home advantage in this game was massive. We would struggle in BD. As you say, Aus and India just swapped whitewashes. We could easily do that too. BD would have heaps more confidence at home. I hope that we can win again this week, but even if Zim achieves a 2-0 result, I think we would still be up against it to win in BD.

[Kriterion_BD]

@ Kriterion, I think the home advantage in this game was massive. We would struggle in BD. As you say, Aus and India just swapped whitewashes. We could easily do that too. BD would have heaps more confidence at home. I hope that we can win again this week, but even if Zim achieves a 2-0 result, I think we would still be up against it to win in BD.

Yes, but there is also weak mental strength to blame as well. When India tours Australia, they are expected to lose, pressure of winning is present, but relatively less. Same with Australia touring India.

Bangladesh were expected to win in ZIM in 2011 and this time around by BD fans, ZIM fans, and neutral fans. As it turns out, that expectation was unreasonable.

One loss can be a fluke...two losses cannot. Even if we win the 2nd Test, thats 2-1 to ZIM in recent times. The only way we can justify saying the first TWO losses were "flukes" is if we win the remaining Test and all limited overs games by large margins.

And that is not very likely. If you check my posting history, you will see that in the past when ZIM would win the first ODI of a 5-match series, I would post that Bangladesh will still win the series 4-1. You can tell when the weaker side wins a match by a fluke and the last two Tests were not flukes.

[Jemisi]

No, not flukes, but home advantage is a significant factor. If we went to BD, and BD won it wouldn't be a fluke, but the home ground would have contributed. A team generally needs to be significantly superior to win away from home. An away win is probably worth something like 1.5 home wins.

[StevenZim]

Does anyone have info on the crowd numbers for all 4 days?