[Match Thread] Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe, 2nd Test, Dhaka

[zimstarr]

What mavuta did was completely brainless . Taylor should have exploded on mavuta someone needs to knock some sense into him

[jaybro]

What mavuta did was completely brainless . Taylor should have exploded on mavuta someone needs to knock some sense into him

No wickets and no runs in the 2nd Test for young Brandon, definitely brought back down to earth after his 4/16 in the 1st Test.

The writing really was on the wall after the ODI series where he was punished for his loose deliveries, I guess the fact he got to bowl on the 4th day helped him in Slyhet.

I think we all got a bit excited after the tour of South Africa where he did ok, but in hindsight it just shows how crap the Saffers are at playing spin, they’re probably the worst side in the world at playing spin.

I did say to the Black Mamba that I thought he would struggle like M’shangwe did back in 2014, Bangladesh is a hard place to bowl spin when they prepare decks like that, their batsman are so good at playing spin.

But he will bounce back he’s got a great attitude and lots of ability, all spinners have these games at the start of their careers even the great ones

[ZIMDOGGY]

Sometines in test cricket, it doesnt matter whos bowling, they collapse themselves. You find this in spin alot.

I did not watch but i suspect this occurred with Mavuta.

[CrimsonAvenger]

Did not get to follow much of this test, except for the last day. Was hoping for a miraculous escape, but wasn't to be.

1-1 is still a massive result. Would have taken it at the beginning of the series. Well played in the second test Brendan Taylor, Peter Moor, Kyle Jarvis and Brian Chari. We were certainly badly handicapped once Chatara got injured. Taylor, by the way, has to fix his chronic running between the wicket issues. He has one such incident in every alternate series. Could have been the difference to the ultimate result yesterday.. All in all, a well fought series.

[Robbo]

I watched almost all of this series thanks to the youtube feed, and I thought for the most part it was engrossing. Watching Zim play good hard test cricket is brilliant, and something that we don't witness enough.

I agree they showed good fighting spirit, a bit like the 90's , and getting a win in the first test was a fantastic effort, particularly when you remember both England and Australia have been beaten in Bangladesh in recent times.

Desperately hope we will some more cricket before the India series in March....

[brmtaylor.com admin]

I watched almost all of this series thanks to the youtube feed, and I thought for the most part it was engrossing. Watching Zim play good hard test cricket is brilliant, and something that we don't witness enough.

I agree they showed good fighting spirit, a bit like the 90's , and getting a win in the first test was a fantastic effort, particularly when you remember both England and Australia have been beaten in Bangladesh in recent times.

Desperately hope we will some more cricket before the India series in March....

Yeah it was great Test cricket.

Someone mentioned earlier the India series was being turned into ODIs (hosted in Zim). I'd be very surprised if we play any Tests against India.

[jaybro]

Mehlui Sibanda said the tour to India will now be hosted by Zimbabwe as a favour to help ZC make some cash and yes it will likely be just ODIs

He also said that the Afghanistan tour of Zimbabwe was deferred to 2020 unless Afghanistan wanted to host it.

It would be interesting how Zimbabwe would go in a tear v Afghanistan, I think they would have the edge if you took Rashid Khan out but the boys can barely last 10 overs against him in an ODI I’d hate to see what he’d do to them In a test

But I think Rajput has definitely got them playing spin a lot better

[Kriterion_BD]

But I think Rajput has definitely got them playing spin a lot better

Qualitatively, it did seem like Zimbabwe played spin much more competently this time vis a vis 2014 tour.

But I checked the stats, and it will probably surprise most but in the 2014 tour, here was how the main BD spinners fared:

Shakib 18 wickets @ 18.27, 43.2 strike rate
Taijul 17 wickets @ 21.70, 45.5 strike rate
Jubair 11 wickets @ 29.27, 45.8 strike rate

And this tour:

Taijul - 18 wickets @ 20.55, 48.5 strike rate
Miraz - 11 wickets @ 17.45, 45.9 strike rate
Nazmul - 4 wickets @ 19, 43.5 strike rate


So the BD spinners actually had lower averages this time around, but the difference was that their strike rates were slightly worse. Basically Taijul had to bowl 3 more balls per wicket, which from 18 wickets means 9 more overs in total. That makes sense because the ZIM batters seemed to be more patient whilst playing spin and Taijul went long periods where he was wicketless.

[Kriterion_BD]

Hats off to Zimbabwe for giving Bangladesh such stiff competition. At lunch on the final day, there was a part of me that really felt ZIM could draw the game and win the series. 1-1 is not the result BD fans would have hoped for before the series. The only positive is that the boys won't be heading into the West Indies series in a complacent manner. But we have got to improve our top order.