Published: Jan 16, 2016, 02:01 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 16, 2016, 02:24 PM (IST)
Bangladesh and Zimbabwe lock horns in the second Twenty20 International (T20I) at Khulna on Sunday. Bangladesh will be confident going into the clash after registering a reasonably comfortable four- wicket win in the first match. Zimbabwe’s slump in international cricket continued following their 0-2 loss in the T20I series preceding this match. Hamilton Masakadza fought a lone battle and his fifty took Zimbabwe to a competitive score. Vusi Sibanda too made an immediate impact as he put on 101 runs for the opening wicket with Masakadza. Sadly for Zimbabwe, none of their batsmen barring the openers contributed as much as they should have. Full Cricket Scorecard: Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe 2015-16, 2nd T20I at Khulna
The platform was set for Zimbabwe to get a score in excess of 200. A combination of good bowling and excellent fielding brought Bangladesh back into the game. Al Amin Hossain and Bangladesh’s latest sensation Mustafizur Rahman picked up four wickets between them and did not give away many runs as well, which eventually restricted Zimbabwe to a score well below 200. READ: Bangladesh seal 4-wicket win over Zimbabwe in thrilling 1st T20I at Khulna
Bangladesh had the momentum going into the break and despite losing wickets at regular intervals, were well ahead of the required run rate all the time. However it Sabbir Rahman’s calm innings of 46 off 36, helped Bangladesh a great deal. Valuable contributions from Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan lower down the order were enough for Bangladesh to seal the game and go 1-0 up in the series. Zimbabwe gave away as many as 18 extras, including 12 wides, which could have eventually cost them the game. They need to be much more disciplined, especially when they have a moderate total to defend.
Zimbabwe need their middle-order to fire and some of their main bowlers like Luke Jongwe to bowl much better than what they did in the first T20I. Jongwe’s spell of 3.4-0-45-1, was far too expensive and Zimbabwe cannot afford to give away so many runs at any point in the match,. Bangladesh will need their star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan to perform with the ball. He gave away 45 runs in his four overs and will have to bowl much better in the games to come for Bangladesh to be in control of the match.
Bangladesh will not need to make any change in their side, but Zimbabwe can go with one or two changes in their bowling department. They will need some good spells, especially with the first change. Jongwe was not up to the mark so Tendai Chisoro or even Taurai Muzarabani will be an ideal replacement for him. Batting Peter Moor a little up the order also might help Zimbabwe’s cause.
A win for Bangladesh will ensure that they cannot lose the four-match series. Zimbabwe will want to win just to get their confidence back and the series will be wide open, if they manage to do so.
Squads:
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Al-Amin Hossain, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Shuvagata Hom, Arafat Sunny, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahman (wk), Mustafizur Rahman, Nurul Hasan, Abu Hider.
Zimbabwe: Tendai Chisoro, Luke Jongwe, Elton Chigumbura (c), Hamilton Masakadza, Peter Moor, Taurai Muzarabani, Sikandar Raza, Malcolm Waller, Chamu Chibhabha, Graeme Cremer, Neville Madziva, Wellington Masakadza, Richmond Mutumbami (wk), Vusi Sibanda, Brian Vitori, Sean Williams
Time: 14:30 IST| 15:00 local | 9:00 GMT
(Pramod Ananth is a reporter at CricketCountry. He has represented Karnataka table tennis under-15, and is a hardcore supporter of Liverpool FC. His Twitter handle is @pramz)
