[Match thread] Only Test - Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh

[Maweni]

Congrats Tibba! At least they can't drop him now On how many should we start thinking about declaring?

[FlowerPower]

who was that young fella they showed with his gear on ? he had black hair , ive never seen him before anyone know ??

I suspect Meth

[hhm]

Small task guys. In which manner has Taibu been dismissed the most? Rounouts should feature prominenty. Or to make another one interesting, how have his partners been dismissed? Either format.

[Boundary]

Oh man, I'm getting a strong bout of homesickness right now!

[Boundary]

I think Chiggs is part of our plans to declare, he needs to get in and free his arms. Now the question is: how should the two Ts play after lunch? Should they go for it and risk another collapse? Or is it better to hold onto our wickets until tea, then go all guns blazing?

[FlowerPower]

Congrats Tibba! At least they can't drop him now On how many should we start thinking about declaring?

I'd do it on time, rather than runs. Assuming we getr to declare, I'd make sure we have over 100 overs to bowl BD out. If we bat another 40 or so that would leave us close to 400 ahead with 105-110 overs to go at them. That should be enough time, without letting them have a chance of pulling off a miracle chase.

Id say a lead of 350 or with 20 overs to bowl this evening...whichever is first... once we hit 300 lead (30 away) put the foot down until tea then declare whatever the lead is. That way we have fresh new ball before close today (2 or 3 wkts) and all of 90 overs tomorrow and 20 ovrs with a new ball tomorrow if we need it. They on the other hand would need to go at 3+ an over to win.

[clikcspeed]

Good consolidation by BT and Tibba! Just what the Dr ordered, what has been a good captains knock and a senior statesman coming to the party.

I'd say a lead of 350 or with 20 overs to bowl this evening...whichever is first.

I'm with you on that one, 350 puts Bangladesh out of this game, more critical is that 20 overs in the last session, if Vitori and Jarvis have a good go, there is no reason to think that Bangladesh can close at 2 or 3 wickets down. The new ball just after tea tomorrow, may also come into play, we saw what happened in the first innings. I've generally been pleased with how this Test has gone, although Bangladesh haven't dominated long periods, there's a bit of excitement, especially for the neutrals last night.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

It's an interesting position to be in, but a good one. A lead of 271 for effectively the loss of 4 feels a lot better than 175 as was the case last night.

I think the guys at the crease will try and bat with a bit more intent in this session but I don't think they should come out all guns blazing. Best scenario in my opinion is that both Taibu and Taylor make centuries in this session and then they can take on the bowlers with a bit of freedom before tea. If that happens, I reckon Zimbabwe would have a 400 run lead at tea time.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

200 up!
And 50 for Taylor, it's been a good knock. It looks like he's decided to start taking a few risks now... as long as they are calculated risks, Zimbabwe still don't have a 300 run lead so there's no need to do anything silly.

And just as I submit this, it's Taibu who picks out the fielder. Taylor needs to anchor the rest of the innings now.

[tawac]

Wow!!!!! 202/4 at 1300hrs this is amazing. I'm at work and I didnt want to see the cricket updates until lunch. But DIS IS GOOD. I'm really beginning to like this Zim side (BEST of ALL TIME???) May be not, but very good. Just like in any International Side if your Kevin Pietersen doesnt come to the party your Matt Prior or Stuart Broad will get you a few. This is one attribute Zimbabwe has never had. If there was a collapse is was always going to be a big colloapse for sure. No one "else" ever raised thier hands and be counted.

But Im really loving this side!!!!