Unbelievable Preveiw By Cricinfo
Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 1:26 pm
Zimbabwe v Bangladesh, 1st ODI, Harare
Zimbabwe search for an upset
Cricinfo staff
August 8, 2009
Text size: A | A
Match facts
Sunday August 9, 2009
Start time 09.30 (07.30 GMT)
Prosper Utseya traps Upul Tharanga lbw, Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, tri-series, 2nd match, Mirpur, January 12, 2009
Prosper Utseya's Zimbabwe have a stiff task ahead of them in a rare home series © AFP
Related Links
Players/Officials: Enamul Haque jnr | Forster Mutizwa
Series/Tournaments: Bangladesh tour of West Indies
Teams: Bangladesh | Zimbabwe
Big Picture
On Sunday, England and Australia take the field for the third day's play in Headingley while Sri Lanka and Pakistan square off at the Premadasa in Colombo. Miles away from both those storied venues, the minuscule environs of the Queens Sports Club will host the first of five ODIs between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. The ground is unlikely to be the centre of much attention, yet fans of cricket on both sides will hope that the situation is far better than when Zimbabwe and Bangladesh last kicked off a series in the country.
On that day, February 4, 2007, the match was played out in virtual secrecy. There was no television coverage, no media updates, no live scores. The only people who knew what was happening were the few hundred die-hards inside Harare Sports Club. The situation has improved since then, with Sri Lanka's tour earlier this year getting decent coverage, and this series deserves to be broadcast. For the millions of Bangladesh supporters around the world, this game will hopefully be watched with reinvigorated zest because their team beat West Indies in the Tests and ODIs recently. For fans in Zimbabwe, this is a rare home series to take in.
Zimbabwe won their last low-profile series against Kenya 5-0 but their best player, Tatenda Taibu, is not available after being handed a ten-match suspension. Their opponents this time are undoubtedly favourites after their exploits in the Caribbean and their recent record over Zimbabwe - they beat them 2-1 earlier this year. Bangladesh's players have much more international experience and have been playing more cricket lately. Zimbabwe are up against it and will need to play out of their skins to beat Bangladesh. A victory for Zimbabwe will give them their first notable ODI series win since July 2006, and augur well for their future as an international team after an encouraging performance against Sri Lanka in the last three ODIs at home.
Bangladesh, after massive strides in the West Indies, have few form concerns despite the warm-up defeat. Shakib Al Hasan, the stand-in captain for the current tour of West Indies, will continue to lead the side in the absence of Mashrafe Mortaza, down with a knee injury. He led and played admirably in the recent ODIs and can be counted on to rally Bangladesh again.
Form guide
(last five matches, most recent first)
Zimbabwe - WWWWW
Bangladesh - WWWWW
Watch out for…
Forster Mutizwa faces a challenge for the wicketkeeper's role with the recalled wicketkeeper-batsman Charles Coventry, but his crucial unbeaten 78 in the warm-up win may pip him to the role. Mutizwa impressed in the ODIs against Kenya in January, changing the third game in a one-over assault on Peter Ongondo, including two sixes, over deep midwicket, and three boundaries to reduce a target of over eight-an-over down to a run-a-ball, and smashing 61 off 45 balls in the next game. A clean hitter of the ball, Mutizwa's biggest challenge is Bangladesh's troika of crafty spinners.
Enamul Haque jnr is a name a few Zimbabweans may be wary of. The left-arm spinner took 6 for 45 - and the historic final wicket - to send Bangladesh fans wild with an inaugural Test victory over Zimbabwe in January 2005, then added 7 for 95 (and 12 in the match) in the drawn second Test. His three ODIs have all come against Zimbabwe, yielding just four wickets, but there's plenty of reason to believe Enamul can add to those figures significantly on this tour.
Team news
Picking Zimbabwe's final XI is a difficult task, given the side has not played an ODI since February. Players to have earned recalls for the series are Mark Vermeulen, who last played an international match in 2004, Coventry, who last played for Zimbabwe in 2006, batsman Chamu Chibhabha and offspinner Timycen Maruma. The two new faces in the squad are the Mashonaland right-arm seamers Trevor Garwe and Admire Manyumwa. It is foreseeable that the players with the most recent international experience get picked first.
Zimbabwe: (probable) 1 Hamilton Masakdaza, 2 Keith Dabengwa, 3 Vusi Sibanda, 4 Stuart Matsikenyeri, 5 Sean Williams, 6 Elton Chigumbura, 7 Prosper Utseya (capt), 8 Forster Mutizwa (wk), 9 Graeme Cremer, 10 Ray Price, 11 Ed Rainsford.
Bangladesh are likely to retain a winning combination, the only exception being the absence of Abdur Razzak who strained his hamstring while batting in the third ODI against West Indies.
Bangladesh: (probable) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Junaid Siddique, 3 Mohammad Ashraful, 4 Raqibul Hasan, 5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Naeem Islam, 9 Enamul Haque jnr, 10 Syed Rasel, 11 Rubel Hossain.
Weather and conditions
The weather in Bulawayo at the moment is nice and sunny with no showers on the horizon. "The wicket looks okay," said Shakib. "It has a slight shade of grass but it is compact."
Stats & trivia
# The two teams have only played one full match in Bulawayo, in April 2001, with the other two fixtures being abandoned.
# Tamim Iqbal has been Bangladesh's highest run-getter since January 2008 with 974 at 27.83, but has struggled in nine innings this year.
# Hamilton Masakadza has been Zimbabwe's most successful player in 2009 with 308 runs at 34.22.
Quotes
"It was a long journey from the West Indies. We were flying for nearly two days. Obviously there was a bit fatigue when we took the field against Zimbabwe A. Our kits also arrived at the last moment."
Shakib Al Hasan believes everything is settled now for Bangladesh
