Fri, 14 Aug 2011 - Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh, Bangladesh Tour of Zimbabwe 2011, 2nd ODI - Bulletin

 Five star Vitori helps Zimbabwe take 2-0 lead

An all-round performance by Zimbabwe helped them to take a 2-0 lead against a dismal Bangladesh with ‘five star’ bowler, Brian Vitori yet again returning with a five-for. The visitors were restricted to a modest 188 by disciplined Zimbabwe bowling; in return the chase culminated with a comfortable seven wicket win with Sibanda and Taibu leading the way.

As compared to their opponents, Zimbabwe top-order batted with lot of thought, applying themselves even when the bowlers were doing well. In pursuit of 189, the chase was jolted very early when Brendon Taylor was removed by Shafiul for three. However, that was the end of Bangladesh celebration for some time as Sibanda and Masakadza added 83 runs to provide legs to the chase. The two hit 12 boundaries between them to frustrate the bowlers for about 18 overs.

Even though Masakadza was stumped for 38, Sibanda completed his half century with relative ease. Tatenda Taibu joined the well settled right-hander to add to the Bangladesh miseries. They also added 59 for the third wicket, when Sibanda was finally dismissed for 67; the home side well on track at 146 for three.

Taibu made full use of a life provided in the deep to complete a half century eventually taking his team across the line, unbeaten on 61. With this victory, Zimbabwe have literally stamped their authority on the series. Bangladesh, on the other hand, have to rectify the flaws in their batting before they can think of avoiding a series loss in the next match.

Earlier, their batsmen were once again guilty of playing rash shots to be dismissed for a paltry 188 with 15 balls remaining in their innings. It was a repeat of their performance in the first one-dayer when they played too many shots too early in the innings, as a result, Zimbabwe could pace the small chase well and achieve their target without breaking into a sweat. Zimbabwe’s man of the moment, Brian Vitori once again starred with the ball claiming his second consecutive 5-wicket haul in ODI’d.

After being inserted on a fairly decent wicket, Bangladesh needed a solid start from their openers, instead, Tamim Iqbal tried to force Vitori’s fifth ball through the off-side only to deflect it to the Ray Price in the slips. Mushifiqur Rahim was promoted to number three in a bid to lend some stability at the top of the order, but that did not work as he was dismissed for 12 by Mpofu. In the next over (8th), the all too familiar collapse had started, opener Imrul Kayes became Vitori’s second victim.

The trouble for Bangladesh was that none of their batsmen was ready to occupy the crease, Mohammad Ashraful, Shahriar Nafees and Mahmadullah failed to make a serious contribution as Bangladesh were struggling at 58 for 6 in the 19th over. Bangladesh Skipper Shakib Al Hassan combined with debutant Nasir Hossain to mount some kind of a rear-guard. The duo added crucial 53 runs for the seventh wicket, it was the first-timers first big partnership of the innings. When his skipper departed, Nasir took it upon himself to lend some respectability to his team’s score.

After the visitors had failed to score at a good rate for majority of their innings, Nasir and Razzaq for a brief period dominated the proceedings as the two mixed caution with common sense to take the total to 176 before Vitori was called back into the attack to remove both the settled men. Nasir impressed with a patient yet mature 63, while as Razzaq was his usual self scoring an entertaining 35. By castling Razzaq, Vitori got his second fifer in as many appearances in the 50-over format. The last man, Rubel Hossian’s run-out just summed up their batting effort, 188 runs was all they could get which was never going to be enough.