Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor said they are still looking for an answer after yet another capitulation against the spinners, which saw them losing the second Test in Khulna by 162 runs on Friday. Spinners claimed all 10 wickets as Bangladesh dismissed Zimbabwe for 151 runs in the second innings to secure the win and seal the three-match Test series with more than an hour left on the fifth day.
Sakib al Hasan spearheaded Bangladesh’s attack once again to take 10 wickets in two innings, which adding with his 137 runs in the first innings, completed one of the greatest ever performances of all-time.
‘We are still looking for the answer. [But] you can’t take the credit away from Sakib, he is a world-class performer,’ Taylor said after the defeat.
‘If we batted first, things might have been different. But Bangladesh played better cricket than us and deserved to win.’
Taylor said they were confident of a draw after Bangladesh delayed their declaration, but losing wickets in clusters cost them the game.
‘On a wearing wicket, against quality spinners, there was no chance we were going to go for a win,’ he said.
‘We thought if we could just break it down into small periods, bat time out, build partnerships, we could get over the line with a draw.’
‘But losing wickets in a group put us on the back foot.’
‘We lost wickets before tea intervals, after drinks, before lunch, they are crucial periods. So it’s always tough to rebuild from that.’
‘We were quite happy [about the delayed declaration]. We wanted Bangladesh to bat longer. But it proved to be a very good declaration and there was more than enough time to win the game.’
‘He [Mushfiqur Rahim] understands his bowlers and conditions very well. We need to be smarter and mentally stronger to bounce back from here,’ he added.
Taylor said they will now go for a consolation win in the third Test in Chittagong, which begins on Wednesday.
‘We have to go back and study on where we can improve,’ said the Zimbabwe captain.
‘There will be some of us due for a big performance, hopefully I can put up some runs, hope some other guys can too.’
‘It will be a new day and a new game.’
-With New Age input
