[Match Thread] Zimbabwe v Bangladesh: 2nd Test

[CrimsonAvenger]

Well Meth gets to bowl the last over anyway. But my point was the lower middle order might have been nicking a few with their inability to handle swing, and we could have created opportunities there. Chigs bowling the first over with the new ball was fine, but we must have planned for a couple of overs of Meth at the lower middle order.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

Bangladesh's day, for sure. We need to get Nasir early out or else they could be getting over 400; he scores at a pretty quick rate.

[eugene]

I would say it was a pretty even day in the end, although Zimbabwe missed a lot of chances. 300-6 is probably a par day one score on this wicket.

[zimfan1]

Bangladesh slightly ahead, if we can knock them over for about 360 then we have a decent chance of getting up to that score.

From what i saw we were a bit unluckly as we went past the bat on a few occasions but could not find the edge, though Meth and Masakadza bowled well and good to see Chigumbura finding some form.

[CrimsonAvenger]

Strange day with no team wanting to take control and looked happy to give thee advantage away to the other, but yes, it hangs in balance now. We need quick wickets tomorrow morning, and a solid batting effort, with contributions from all of the top order. Surely, a phone call to Streak would help

[brmtaylor.com admin]

Bangladesh slightly ahead, if we can knock them over for about 360 then we have a decent chance of getting up to that score.

From what i saw we were a bit unluckly as we went past the bat on a few occasions but could not find the edge, though Meth and Masakadza bowled well and good to see Chigumbura finding some form.

Yeah, definitely the bowlers were unlucky. How many catches went down? Some half chances (Taylor), some regulation (Cremer).

Jarvis was pretty poor in the morning, looked better in the final session. S Masakadza was okay, he did his job without being exceptional. Meth was outstanding, if the other bowlers shared his economy rate we'd be on top right now. Cremer was disappointing. He was too inconsistent, there were heaps of rippers where he deceived the batsman but then he released the pressure with something short and wide which flew to the fence.

My concern with Bangladesh building a score this large is that if Taylor isn't amongst the runs we are going to have a tough time getting a first innings lead. When we bowl them out for 150 or so, then I'd be confident that we'd somehow muster up the runs. But 300+ worries me because if we collapse, then it's curtains. The only redeeming thing is that a draw is enough for Zimbabwe in this match. So run rate is not a factor, I'd be quite happy to see us trot along at 2 and a bit an over for 150 overs again just to take time out of the match and force Bangladesh to take some serious risks if they want to salvage a result.

[eugene]

Cremer just needs to bowl a lot of overs to gain more consistency. His career has been so stop/start and then when he does play he doesn't get much of a bowl, like in the first test. Very spinners come on to the scene and taste success immediately, even Warne and Murali had to put in the hard yards.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

Cremer just needs to bowl a lot of overs to gain more consistency. His career has been so stop/start and then when he does play he doesn't get much of a bowl, like in the first test. Very spinners come on to the scene and taste success immediately, even Warne and Murali had to put in the hard yards.

Oh yeah, definitely agree with that. He's got all the tools to be one of the leading leg-spinners in world cricket, we just need to persist with him.

[Kriterion_BD]

I'm fairly well pleased that we reached 300-6, meaning we only lost 2 wickets per session. Once again 90% of the top order wickets were freebies given away, with a couple of genuine chances and a few half chances being survived. We seemed to limit unnecessary dismissals in our series vs WI and SL, but those were pretty familiar conditions I guess.

The pitch looks easier to bat on than the last match, but also seems to assist turn a bit more. For the Bangladesh the key is obviously to get Taylor as cheaply as possible...can he continue to rack up hundreds with no end in sight?

The way I see it for our bowlers, the wickets of Chakabva, Chigumbura and Sibanda will come sooner than later we just have to make sure to limit the fireworks. Hamilton's form isn't great and he would be great to pick up cheaply once again although he's due for one big score per series. Waller, Meth, Cremer are the annoying guys who can score sizeable contributions even if they don't score huge. In general ZIM bat all the way down to #10, which is a big bonus.

If it wasn't for our huge defeat and ZIM's resulting confidence I'd have said we were in the clear advantage, but the wicket is fairly docile and only when you've crossed 350 can you say that you have a sizeable total. And we have a pretty long tail.

[jimbo]

Zimbabwe will win no danger

Sibanda and Masakadza really need to come to the party however. Chigs needs to come good too. He scored a century against Australia A Containing Hilfenhaus/Siddle/Beer two years ago so know he has what it takes