The Bangladesh Cricket Board XI gave Zimbabwe an idea about what to expect in the forthcoming Test series when they dismissed the visitors for 241 runs on the opening day of the three-day warm-up match at Fatullah on Monday. Bunch of medium pacers and an occasional spinner were enough for Zimbabwe as eight Bangladeshi bowlers shared 11 Zimbabwean wickets to deny them any meaningful batting practice.
Skipper Naeem Islam used 11 bowlers to restrict Zimbabwe bellow 250 runs but it could have been different all together if Under-19’s left-arm pace bowler Mehedi Hasan had not pulled out picking up a hamstring injury after bowling just seven overs.
Mehedi had just found his rhythm by picking up two wickets after the lunch break before he left the field.
Zimbabwe were comfortably placed with 71-1 during the lunch break before Mehedi removed opener Brian Chari to swing the momentum to BCB XI’s way.
The dismissal of Chari, Zimbabwe’s best batsman during recent visit of A team, opened the doors for hosts as it ended the 63-run second-wicket stand between the batsman and Sikandar Raaa.
Mehedi surprised Chari with his pace to making him look clueless as the ball took the outside edge to reach the slip cordon where Taibur Parvez nearly made a mess before grabbing an easy catch in his second efforts.
Mehedi removed Zimbabwe’s top scorer Sikandar in the next over when he induced an edge with an out swinger that safely reached to wicketkeeper Jashim Uddin.
Sikandar made 44 for 72 balls, which remained the only highpoint for an otherwise stuttering Zimbabwean innings.
Medium-fast bowler Shuvashis Roy complimented Mehedi by removing the dangerman Brendan Taylor with a slow bouncer as the batsman attempted a square cut only to be caught by Shubhagata Hom at third slip.
Barring wicketkeeper Jasim, skipper Nayeem used his all-available options and was rewarded when he claimed two wickets for himself. Chigumbura showed his intent hitting five boundaries to reach 29 before he was trapped leg-before by Asif Ahmed.
The former Zimbabwean captain, one of the few players who were in Zimbabwe squad during their last visit for a Test series in Bangladesh in 2005, said he was happy for what his team achieved on the first day.
‘We knew they will try to get the home advantage and we prepared back home,’ said Chigumbura.
‘Though we did not bat well, there are still positives as players took the opportunity to get themselves adapted to the condition,’ he said.
-With New Age input
