Zimbabwe v Bangladesh

[Howard Littlejohn]

Saw none of it last night, but was shocked by the scorecard. Bangladesh are better than that.
I was glad to see Jarvis got some wicvket, he was good but unlucky in his first spells.
With two days to play, this won't be a draw unless weather intervenes and it is looking hard for Ban. Not impossible, given Zim don't have the most ferocious attack in workd cricket but its a huge ask to bounce back with a sizeable score after a collapse like that.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

Bangladesh are better than that.

That's arguable.

 

[DrVanNostrand]

Only been following it on Cricinfo, but the Zimbos are flippin' murdering them. The overnight lead is enough, have two full days at them.

Bangladesh without Tamim and a bowling-fit Shakib aren't quite same. Encouraging that Nasir is bowling seam now as well

Brilliant to see Cremer make runs. A real world-class cricketer in the making. Hope he gets a much longer bowl in the second dig. Jarvis is a really solid bowler as well, has done very well in the recent NZ first-class domestic season. Surprising to see a Harare pitch with a bit of life in it.

Hope Ashraful can dig in here and put up a fight.

 

[sherb]

Nice to see Brendan Taylor notch up twin tons.

 

[Torz]

Cremer turns one square past the edge of Ashraful. Too good for the keeper, but Taylor manages to stop it at slip. Ashraful hasn't realised and sets off for a run and the Zim's get another.

 

[PunyHumans!!!]

Wow...only just realised this was on after a quick check of cricinfo. Utterly woeful by Bangladesh, they just seem a long way off from competing consistently at Test level. Happy to see Zimbabwe putting them to the sword after all the strife they've had.

 

[sherb]

How long has Bangladesh been in Test cricket now?

Because they seem to have gotten precisely nowhere in that time.

 

[The Speaker]

Delicious 335 run win for Zimbabwe.

Cremer took 4/4.

 

[Freo Big Fella]

How is Ashraful still getting a game?

 

[The Speaker]

How is Ashraful still getting a game?

Bangladesh are a bit lacking in batsmen with experience.

 

[evdo1706]

IanW is not posting?

 

[sherb]

At least Bangladesh beat Taylor I guess.

Just.....

 

[PunyHumans!!!]

How long has Bangladesh been in Test cricket now?

Because they seem to have gotten precisely nowhere in that time.

Thirteen years now? ...just three victories in all that time...once against Zimbabwe and two against a weakened Windies outfit. They need much more cricket against top ranked sides than what they have gotten recently. They've only had England and that was about three-four years ago.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

I'm stunned by how much Zimbabwe won by. Not having any tour games in foreign conditions probably hurt Bangladesh somewhat and they have more talent than that. Not experience or discipline, but on pure talent they should at least push the lkikes of Zimbabwe (even away). Regardless of circumstance, that is unacceptable. Bangladesh have shown patches of promise, rarely over more than a day or two of a Test though.

Both of these sides desprataely need more more long form cricket, I think everybody is aware of that, but it is going to be hard for Bangladesh to get other boards to agree if they put in performances like that.
From what I saw, mostly in the opening two days, Zimbabwe did genuinely play like a low end Test nation in periods and may have had other lower nations in trouble at times (I'm not saying they would have beaten New Zealand or West Indies, but could well have at least won a few sessions). A definite positive for them, given how little time they have been back in Test cricket.

 

[Torz]

Mind you, if Taylor hadn't fired twice, it could've been a different story.

 

[DrVanNostrand]

Zimbabwe have been very solid at home since returning to Test cricket:

Beat Bangladesh in a one-off (2011)
Respectable performance against Pakistan until a second-innings collapse felled them, one-off (2011)
Ran NZ right to the wire in a one-off, only 34 runs in it, was a thriller (2011)
...and now this win against Bangladesh, and they actually get a 2-match series this time

But away they're still a joke. Beaten by an innings & 300 runs in NZ (one-off) and belted by the Windies 2-0 only a month ago.

 

[The Speaker]

Zimbabwe have been very solid at home since returning to Test cricket:

Beat Bangladesh in a one-off (2011)
Respectable performance against Pakistan until a second-innings collapse felled them, one-off (2011)
Ran NZ right to the wire in a one-off, only 34 runs in it, was a thriller (2011)
...and now this win against Bangladesh, and they actually get a 2-match series this time

But away they're still a joke. Beaten by an innings & 300 runs in NZ (one-off) and belted by the Windies 2-0 only a month ago.

Might be in part due to their coaches being unable to travel with them.

 

[The Speaker]

Zimbabwe won the toss, elected to bowl.

Bangladesh 2/89 at lunch.

 

[Torz]

Jarvis has horrible figures, did Tamim get a hold of him?

 

[The Speaker]

Game looking fairly even.

Zimbabwe 5/220 in response to the Bangers' 391. Elton Chigumbura MotM so far.

 

[DrVanNostrand]

And it's all over, 1-1. Might have been a pretty interesting series to watch actually, sporting pitches and some solid performances all around. Let's hope for once that mayyyybe at least one of these teams will build on this form.

Still two and a half weeks until some real Test cricket gets under way, England hosting NZ. C'mooooon baby.

 

[Torz]

Is England v New Zealand on foxtel?

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

I didn't get to see any of the second Test, but that was perhaps more my expectation than the first. Still, both teams will have benefited from some competitive five day cricket, except that the games are all too rare for these nations and there is no chance to put into practice any lessons learned.

Looking forward for them, after the ODIs and T20Is of this tour:
Bangladesh
Champions trophy
2 Tests, 3 ODIs, 1T20I at home to New Zealand. That is all for the remainder of 2013.
They are scheduled to host Sri Lanka for two Tests and a tri-series (including Pak) in early 2014.

Zimbabwe
After the champions trophy
two Tests (at home v Sri Lanka) and six ODIs (all at home, 3 v India, 3 v Sri Lanka) for the remainder of 2013.
After that, Zimbabwe's next Test is July or August 2014 at home v South Africa (2 Tests).

It is hard to expect these sides to perform consistently if they can't even get matches consistently.

 

[Matt121]

We need more games, and start to run a ladder