[Match Thread] Zimbabwe v Bangladesh: 2nd Test

[CrimsonAvenger]

http://www.cricketworld.com/bangladesh- ... /34006.htm

Bangla have called up Shafiul Islam and Ziaur Rahman as cover for Rubel Hossain and Shahadat Hossain.

[Kriterion_BD]

I think that plenty of BD wickets were thrown away, but the Zim bolwers earned more than just Meth's LBW.

Also the yorker that got Vusi in the first innings had a considerable amount of batsman error involved. You can't afford to miss straight ones.

Taylor's sweeping dismissal was fortunate for the bowler, batsman had a tired waft at one outside off stump.

But I grant you that better mental strength from the BD batsmen would have forced our guys to do work much harder than they had to. Obviously BD has more room for improvement this week than Zim. Having said that 335 is a big margin to cover.

My mistake. I would add Nafees' dismissal in the 2nd innings to Jarvis. I was only counting the top order wickets, cuz the tails don't really count either way...bowlers are expected to "earn" their wickets and they are expected to "throw" them away as well. So out of 12-14 top order wickets, I think 3 were earned (I'm giving one of the Shakib dismissals either although that was pretty much poor technique). In contrast, out of Robiul's 9 wickets, only 1 was a freebie I think (the c and b of Hammy).

[Jemisi]

Fair enough

[Boundary]

Hey Kriterion, a lot of comments on cricinfo from BD fans seem to be too harsh. I mean, BD is obviously a better one day team than Zim but not necessarily in tests. The 1st test defeat obviously flattered Zim to an extent, but a lot of BD fans seem to be grossly underestimating us or overestimating their team. Is that a widely held view over there? I know the argument about touring, foreign conditions, etc. but Zim has swing in Harare and yet they struggled against swing in NZ. So I reckon it's psychological. After stellar performances against WI and SL, what really contributed to such an inept showing in Harare? I think it was the memory of the 2011 defeat. So if I'm right, what will be the effect of the 335 defeat, will it spur a resurgence in this match or cause further damage?

[Jemisi]

I think it will all depend upon how firmly and consistently Zim can apply pressure. BD will try to behave better this time around, and if Zim heads go down they may feel like they can pull it together. But if Zim keeps making them work for everything like they did most of the time last week, we will likely see a clatter of wickets again.

[foreignfield]

Since our last meeting in 2011 BD have played 8 Test matches, if I count correctly, 6 of them at home, 2 in SL, on dustbowls and roads respectively. In 2011 it took BD one warm-up match, one Test and 3 ODIs to arrive. How on earth do their fans (not all obviously) expect them to just rock up in Zim and win by a country mile?

I'm expecting a closer but maybe even shorter contest.

[CrimsonAvenger]

There have been constant rains in Harare, bringing difficulties for pitch preparation. This adds another dimension already, even though the forecasts are for good weather tomorrow.

[anusha gamage]

Zimbabwe should bat first, otherwise we will have anusha gamage here again telling us that 'zim alway loss when dont bat first'.

hi anusha from sri lanka
dont miss undastand i said dont bat first in odi match ..very hard to bat first 1 hour in harare ground..i sow olso B.telar said it cricinfo..

team is very balance but maruma shude out and williams must in .....
i think Stephen Mangongo is very good coacher i sow him on TV,,,look like he is very active man..zim need him...

[takleg]

Zimbabwe should bat first, otherwise we will have anusha gamage here again telling us that 'zim alway loss when dont bat first'.

hi anusha from sri lanka
dont miss undastand i said dont bat first in odi match ..very hard to bat first 1 hour in harare ground..i sow olso B.telar said it cricinfo..

team is very balance but maruma shude out and williams must in .....
i think Stephen Mangongo is very good coacher i sow him on TV,,,look like he is very active man..zim need him...

[zimfan93]

Well, he's spot on about Williams...