Zimbabwe skipper Brendan Taylor said on Monday that he is proud with the team’s attitude to make a game but remained disappointed with the batting unit for failing to deliver in the first Test against Bangladesh. Zimbabwe were bowled out for 114 runs in less than two sessions to set up the hosts just 101 runs to win, which despite the best efforts of their bowlers appeared inadequate.Elton Chigumbura took the new ball to rock Bangladesh snaring up 4-21 that nearly gave them an unexpected win.
‘We can be proud of the way we fought and tried to defend 100 runs but being bowled out for 114, that’s what hurts the most,’ Taylor told reporters at Mirpur on Monday.
‘We have been saying 150 would have been very interesting. But at the end of the day, we batted badly and did not deserve to win the game,’ said Taylor.
‘We were very disappointing. The way we got out, we didn’t really show any fight,’
‘At the end of the day, if we are not going to put runs on the board and put a prize on our wickets, we are not going to win too many games,’ said Taylor.
Taylor also lamented their fielding, which let them down at the crucial moments despite being outstanding during the rest of the game.
Shortly after they left Bangladesh reduced to 0-3, they had at least more chances to put Bangladesh under more pressure but they could not grab it.
‘That was really tough to accept,’ he said.’ They could have been 10 for 5 but that’s the way it goes.
‘If we could have got Sakib there and Riyad [Mahmudullah], that would have been a big difference.
‘Good teams and good fielders will take those chances and probably we didn’t have our best fielder there at that time,’ he said.
Taylor warned that they are preparing to come back stronger in the next two Test matches despite admitting that Bangladesh are the favourites at the moment.
‘I can assure you that in the second game the guys will be a lot more disciplined, lot more hungrier to succeed,’ he said
‘There are still two matches. So it’s still not gone.
‘The momentum may be with them but we have shown we can fight. There is not much to choose between the sides.
‘The conditions might favour them but we will have to go to Khulna with a mindset that we are going to win,’ he said.
-With New Age input
