Zimbabwe continued their terrible tour with another heavy defeat in their only warm-up game before the limited-over series against Bangladesh. Led by Anamul Haque, BCB XI handed the visitors an 88-run thumping at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday.
Shamsur Rahman and Nasir Hossain starred with the bat as the hosts piled up a huge 282 before the frontline pacers – Shafiul Islam, Mohammad Shahid and Abul Hasan – scalped two wickets each to end Zimbabwe’s run-chase at 194.
Shamsur lost his place in the national fold to Imrul Kayes in the third Test before being overlooked for the ODI squad, but has been in prime touch in the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League bagging three consecutive fifties for Kalabagan KC. However, the 26-year-old fell one short of a half-century yesterday.
Meanwhile, another player to exit from the regular Tigers squad was Nasir who showed glimpses of his old form during his 62-ball 61 that included three fours and two sixes.
Coming in at No 7 and 8, Shuvagata Hom and Abul scored 40 and 33 respectively with the latter sending the ball flying over the rope four times in his 17-ball blister.
Zimbabwe experimented with their batting order as Brendan Taylor opened the innings alongside Regis Chakabva but with runs on the board, the BCB XI quickies steamed in to initiate regular breakthroughs.
Timycen Maruma’s 50 and Sikandar Raza’s 44 were the only notable scores for the visitors as they were bowled out with more than four overs to spare.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Anamul, who is also a part of the squad for the first two matches in Chittagong, felt Zimbabwe are at a place where the Tigers were not so long ago.
“Throughout 2014 we lost a number of close matches and as a result we were mentally a bit down. The case with Zimbabwe at the moment might be similar. They may be morally down and we need to use that to our advantage,” said the 21-year-old.
“Our bowlers bowled really well and they also did not have two or three of their main players. If they come back they will be stronger. But I believe that if we can play to the best of our ability, we can win this series by a big margin,” he added.
He also added, “In an ODI it takes one batsman or bowler is enough to change the momentum of a game. It will be a good fight. So we really have to give it our best.”
The day match ended in the evening after which the Bangladesh national team took the field for a light practice session. The two key members – Shakib al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal – however, opted to rest and did not take part in the brief fielding session under lights.