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Match report Zimbabwe v Bangladesh 2003/04 2nd Test day 5
by John Ward


Scorecard:Zimbabwe v Bangladesh

Overnight: Bangladesh 88/5 (Manjarul Islam Rana 4*, Mushfiqur Rahman 1*).
Lunch: Bangladesh 168/9 (Tafique 26*, Kabir 3*).
Tea: Bangladesh 168; Zimbabwe 81/1 (Gripper 31*, Carlisle 45*).
Close: Zimbabwe 210/2 – match drawn

 

After the downpour on the third afternoon, followed by more rain overnight, it was obvious to everybody that there would be no play on Day Four, and the umpires put everybody (apart from the ground staff) out of their misery by abandoning the day’s play before the scheduled start. A proponent of euthanasia would have advocated consigning the entire match to history, as more play would only be possible, given fine weather, after more torturous work by the ground staff, and then only in the cause of a match in which a result was next to impossible.

 

Noel Peck and his staff did their work superbly, the rain drifted away, and remarkably play started on time under intermittent sun. It could be said that both sides made a good start: Bangladesh took a run off the first ball, Zimbabwe took a wicket off the second. Mushfiqur Rahman moved too far across his stumps, playing across the line to a straight ball from Douglas Hondo, and umpire David Orchard sent him on his way, lbw without scoring. Bangladesh were 89 for six.

 

Six runs later a low chance went down from Khaled Mashud, on 3, in the slips off Hondo, and the hundred came up after 40 minutes, courtesy of a no-ball from Heath Streak that Mashud drove for two through the covers. But he and Manjarul Islam Rana had to struggle for runs, playing and missing quite frequently, with another hard chance going down, this time in the gully by Islam off Sean Ervine, but with Travis Friend unusually missing both.

 

Mashud’s painful innings of 9 in 81 minutes finally came to an end as Ervine moved a ball in, beating the bat and trapping him lbw at 126 for seven. Islam was playing another significant innings in Test cricket, although he had quite a lot of luck, swinging his bat for the most part between wicket and wicket so that he hit anything that was straight and missing anything that wasn’t. When Raymond Price came on the batsmen decided to attack him from the start, and in his first over Islam had another let-off as Dion Ebrahim at short leg just failed to hold a very hard chance.

 

Tapash Baishya enjoyed less fortune, scoring only 2 before he tried to hit a teasingly flighted ball from Price over the covers but instead sliced a simple catch to backward point; 137 for eight. In the next over Ervine repaid Friend for dropping a catch off him earlier by dropping a hard slash from the heaven-blessed Islam. After their vast improvement on the third day, Zimbabwe were letting everything slip in the slips.

 

But Islam’s good fortune did not extend to passing the thirties; on 39 he groped at a ball well outside off stump from Price and wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu took the thin edge; 144 for nine. All three of Islam’s Test innings so far have ended in the thirties.

 

The last pair decided on largely block-and-slog tactics and proved a considerable nuisance to Zimbabwe. Grant Flower was the next fielder to make a donation to the Bangladeshi cause, missing a low skimmer from Mohammad Rafique off the bowling of Hondo. This the fifth blunder of the morning allowed Bangladesh to survive until lunch.

 

The last wicket fell without addition to the total of 168 five balls after the interval, as Alamgir Kabir was out to a simple bat-pad catch for 3, leaving Mohammad Rafique unbeaten with 26. Price took three wickets for 20 runs and Ervine, though expensive, also took three for 44. Streak took only one wicket, but his 15 overs cost only 19 runs.

 

Zimbabwe were to lose a wicket in the third over, as Ebrahim (2) pushed at a ball from Baishya wide of the off stump and edging a catch to second slip; 5 for one. One wondered if Zimbabwe would chase after quick runs, aiming for a declaration and putting Bangladesh in again, but Trevor Gripper and Stuart Carlisle seemed to be enjoying some undemanding batting practice. They played through to tea, showing that their team was not considering attempting the impossible.

 

Carlisle reached his fifty first, off 87 balls, and themselves stroke also brought up the hundred. Gripper followed him off 105 balls. After reaching the landmark both batsmen stepped up the tempo, especially against Islam, forcing Bangladesh to revert to their pacemen. The ever-enthusiastic Baishya quickly got rid of Gripper (65), who tried to hook a short ball that moved away from him outside the off stump, and Mashud caught the skyer very well running back. Zimbabwe were 134 for two and the partnership had added 129.

 

The weather was now sunnier than at any time during the match as it gradually faded into oblivion. Zimbabwe took the lead with two wickets down and Carlisle pressed inexorably towards his second Test century, the only pressure being that of time. Grant Flower settled in nicely and tried to give him the bulk of the bowling as he took no risks. Finally he lashed Mohammad Ashraful through the covers to reach the landmark, and immediately the players shook hands.

 

Bangladesh avoided defeat for only the second time in Test cricket, due more to rain than skill, but they will be happy to take it. The moral of the story is do not arrange an international series in Zimbabwe at the height of the rainy season.

 


(Article: Copyright © 2004 John Ward)

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