Match report: Zimbabwe A v Bangladesh A 3rd match day 3 by John Ward

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Scorecard:

Zimbabwe A v Bangladesh A

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DateLine: 2nd March 2005

 

Overnight: Zimbabwe A 269; Bangladesh A 223/7 off 63 overs (Rahim 19*, Rasel 3*)
Lunch: Bangladesh A (2) 251; Zimbabwe A (2) 39/1 off 20 overs (Siziba 12*, Sibanda 2*)
Tea: Zimbabwe A (2) 98/3 off 53 overs (Sibanda 28*, Chibhabha 6*)
Close: Zimbabwe A (2) 202/8 off 89.3 overs (Ervine 15*)

 

Zimbabwe A, with a first-innings lead of 18, chose dogged determination as their method to build on that and win the match, which led to a rather tedious day’s play. But, despite a highly disciplined fifty from Vusi Sibanda, a middle-order slide meant that by the close the match was still very much in the balance, with Zimbabwe A 220 runs ahead with two wickets left.

 

Play began half an hour early due to the rain that had interfered with the second day’s play. Zimbabwe A opened their bowling with Campbell Macmillan bowling opposite Andy Blignaut, who was a little slower and more disciplined than he had been the previous afternoon, but still looked scarcely threatening and bowled several no-balls. He did take a fine diving catch to his right at second slip, though, in the third over of the day, to dismiss Mushfiqur Rahim off the bowling of Macmillan. Rahim was the tourists’ one remaining batsman of note and Zimbabwe A were now favourites to lead on first innings. Rahim had compiled a laborious 20 off 92 balls and his team were now 230 for eight.

 

Then came a period of stalemate as the Zimbabwe A bowlers looked incapable of dismissing numbers nine and ten, and the Bangladesh A batsmen looked incapable of scoring runs. Then Cham Chibhabha replaced Blignaut, and in his second over Syed Rasel drove him for three fours.

 

Hilary Matanga came on and immediately claimed the wicket of Rasel, although the batsman did not seem to like being given out caught at bat-pad on the leg side by Terry Duffin. Rasel made 22; 251 for nine. The last wicket added no runs in the two balls the partnership lasted, as last man Shafaq al Zabir stepped across his stumps, tried to hit Matanga into the hands of the deep fielder at wide long-off, but was instead bowled behind his legs.

 

With Enamul Haque unbeaten on a laborious 6, Bangladesh A were all out for 251, conceding a lead of 18 runs on first innings, a real indictment of the way they let Zimbabwe A off the hook when they had them at their mercy on the first afternoon.

 

When Zimbabwe A batted again, the Bangladeshi bowlers began with a remarkable eight-man off-side field, but soon found that their bowlers were not accurate enough to merit it – and in any case it is a dubious tactic, especially early in the innings, as it makes it difficult for a bowler to attack the stumps. The Bangladeshi fielders were remarkably noisy early on, another dubious tactic.

 

Duffin managed to pierce the field with some good drives now and then, while Wisdom Siziba’s job was to stay there all day, although he nearly undid it on one occasion with a wild heave at a ball close to his off stump. It was Duffin who actually went to a wild heave, though, trying to swing Rasel through the leg side and being adjudged lbw by umpire Graham Gilmour as the ball hit him low on the pad. He scored 19 out of 34 for the first wicket.

 

Runs now virtually dried up as Siziba set his mind again to batting through the day, while Vusi Sibanda, who has so often played dazzling strokes and then thrown his wicket away, has abandoned his strokes in recent matches to try to avoid soft dismissals. Unfortunately he is also avoiding his strokes and avoiding larger scores. He would perhaps be better advised to play his natural game but add some discipline and discrimination rather than subtracting most of his scoring strokes.

 

In the first over after lunch, Siziba astounded everybody by driving Rasel handsomely past extra cover for four, after he had bowled his first 10 overs for 11 runs, moving many of his deliveries sharply away from the right-hander. But his instructions to bat all day failed, as he was beaten by a quicker arm ball from Haque and adjudged lbw by umpire Kevan Barbour for 21; 48 for two.

 

There was a huge appeal for lbw against Dion Ebrahim immediately he came in, rejected by the umpire this time, but the Bangladeshi behaviour would surely have attracted the attention of the match referee were there one for these matches. A few overs later there was another confident appeal, this time for a catch at the wicket against Sibanda, who suddenly woke from his stupor to slash outside the off stump, but their reaction was more mature this time when it was rejected. Sibanda then found a half-volley from Shakib al Hasan that he drove straight for four.

 

Soon after a stolen single took Sibanda to double figures; it had taken him 74 balls and 88 minutes. Then another handsome straight drive for four off Hasan followed. Ebrahim pulled Haque for four in an otherwise dormant stay at the wicket but was then unlucky; he moved forward to play Zabir but played the ball on to the ground via bat and pad, and it rolled on to his stumps just hard enough to remove the bails. He made 7; 70 for three.

 

Sibanda gradually found the courage to play his strokes again, hitting Zabir for two successive fours, although the second was courtesy of a misfield by mid-off, who allowed the ball to go between his legs to the boundary. But mostly he still concentrated on rigid defence, with only the occasional attacking stroke produced.

 

After tea, when the scoring rate for the innings was below two an over, the partnership with Chibhabha grew in confidence. Sibanda went to an extremely disciplined fifty off 187 balls, certainly the slowest innings of his career, but he could not defy his own nature forever, and he finally drove an easy catch to Zabir at mid-off, off the bowling of Rasel. He made 59 off 205 balls, and Zimbabwe A were 146 for four.

 

Andy Blignaut came in next and was soon looking for runs, driving Rasel wide of mid-on and then cleanly past extra cover for fours. He was looking promising with 14 off 17 balls, but then lost his wicket due to some dilatory running between the wickets: Mahmud Ullah Riyad at backward point fielded a short from Chibhabha and threw the stumps down with a direct hit and Blignaut still ambling home. Zimbabwe A were 168 for five.

 

It had taken a long time to build their position, but the innings appeared to be sliding slowly downwards. Chibhabha (37) tried to drive Haque but played the ball on to his stumps via the inside edge; 169 for six. But in now were the pair who had started Zimbabwe A’s recovery in the first innings.

 

Keith Dabengwa started his innings where he had left off on the first day, with a cracking cut for four. But he then drove at a ball outside the off stump from Haque and was again given out caught at the wicket by umpire Graham Gilmour, and as in the first innings showed no inclination to leave the wicket, although he did walk smartly when given out. He scored 4; 179 for seven.

 

Bangladesh A took the new ball, and the batsmen were faced with problems. Zabir had several excited lbw appeals against Campbell Macmillan turned down, but bowling left-arm over the wicket to a right-hander reduced his chances of a favourable decision. Then Craig Ervine was dropped at second slip, a hard chance, off Rasel. The pair looked likely to play out the end of a 7½-hour day, but in the last over Macmillan, who had blatantly padded up to several balls during his innings, this time declined to use his pad but still forgot his bat, and was bowled for 13 offering no stroke. Zimbabwe A finished the day with 202 for eight wickets, 220 ahead.

 

(Article: Copyright © 2005 John Ward)