 Finally some respite for Zimbabwe! Just when one thought that all has been lost
for the hosts Zimbabwe, they have come in with a sterling performance that
has pulled one back for them. Bangladesh still leads the series 2-1, but
at least now knows that there is a competition, and that they have everything
to play for in the series as well.
Click for Live Score Card of Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh
Zimbabwe must attribute their turnaround
to the three classic innings played by Hamilton Masakadza, Brendan Taylor
and Elton Chigumbura. Masakadza had been in a good run of form even before
this series, and it was good to see him get back amongst runs after a couple of
failures. Taylor, who had won his team a T20 game against Australia in 2007, is
making a comeback in this series, and performed exceedingly well. Chigumbura's
hard hitting skills, on the other hand, will give the opposition something to
worry about, who up till now, hadn't encountered anything like that in the last
five or six internationals. With Mark Vermeulen having already exhibited
that he could end up doing a job as well, the batting for the hosts looks to be
in safe hands. What will cause a little heartache will be their bowling.
Even in the third game, despite having got rid of the top four - including Tamim
Iqbal, Mohammad Ashraful and Shakib-al-Hasan - for 39 runs, the apparent
weakness in the attack was exposed when the lesser of the batsmen went on to smash
254 in only 44.2 overs. Even a number nine batsman in Mahbubul Alam smashed
a half century! Bangladesh will know that they cannot be complacent. Another
loss in the fourth game could put them under tremendous pressure for sure. They
made a couple of mistakes in the game, and one of them was to do with their ground
fielding. Too many singles were allowed to be converted into twos and threes and
even fours! The bowling also looked like they could do with another incisive bowler,
and that could be because of the absence of the bowlers due to injuries. Yet,
Shakib-al-Hasan will need to make do with the resources he had and juggle them
around a bit. This is where his captaincy will be really tested and it should
be interesting to see how he goes about doing the business.
What surprised me the most was the dropping of Junaid Siddique in favour of an all-rounder.
Siddique is a super-aggressive batsman at the top and could do wonders in case
the Bangla Lions have to chase a huge target with his bull-dozing abilities. Iqbal,
on the other hand, did get out first ball, but he sure is a man in form, and along
with Ashraful and Shakib, should be able to bat well even under pressure. To me,
it does look like Bangladesh will be able to put this minor aberration away and
win the series in this next game.
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