 Bangladesh will look to continue their winning streak in the second ODI of the
five-match series against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo on Tuesday. This, after
they won the first game of the series by a comfortable margin of eight wickets
and with more than 15 overs to spare.
Click for Live Score Card of Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh
Zimbabwe was out-batted and out-bowled in the first game, which was evident
by the fact that they managed to score only 207 on an easy batting track, and
then conceded the runs in less than 35 overs. They will definitely have to do
much better than the first game, and this could begin with a decent start to
the innings. The comeback man in Mark Vermeulen showed his class with
a well-compiled 92, but the rest of the batsmen capitulated like nine-pins in
the first match. This will have to change and more solidity will need to be
exhibited in the second game.
For some strange reason, Vusi Sibanda wasn't selected in the playing
eleven, and it may make sense to have him in the side, given his run of form
in the previous series that he had played in. Hamilton Masakadza had
also been in good form in the games leading up to this international, and will
need to do his best to recapture his form at the top of the order.
Amongst the bowlers, both, Prosper Utseya and Raymond Price did
not bowl as they had been expected to do and sprayed the ball everywhere. Despite
being a pitch that supported the medium pace bowlers more than the tweakers,
both are experienced enough to understand the nuances of the game and modify
their game accordingly. Probably, the form of Mohammad Ashraful had something
to do with the manner in which they bowled.
Talking of Ashraful, and he does look like wanting to make it count after all
his failures in the last couple of years. Having already scored a couple of
half centuries in the series against West Indies, he smashed an unbeaten
century in the previous match against the Zimbabweans to seal the win for his
side. Along with Ashraful, it will be left to the likes of Tamim Iqbal - who
scored a half century in the first match - Junaid Siddue and Shakib-al-Hasan
to get going and pile up the runs. However, it will be interesting to see how
the Bangladeshis perform if they have to bat first on a wicket which has enough
movement for the bowlers to be able to disrupt the scoring, if not to pick up
wickets.
However, to me, it does look like Zimbabwe will need to play aggressive cricket
to be able to have any chances of winning the second game, let alone the series.
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