2nd ODI: Zimbabwe v Bangladesh at Harare, 8 Apr 2001 CricInfo Live Report

2nd ODI: Zimbabwe v Bangladesh at Harare, 8 Apr 2001
John Ward

Pre-game: Toss,
Zimbabwe innings: Innings break,

CAMPBELLS HITS CENTURY IN DIFFICULT BATTING CONDITIONS

Zimbabwe in their 50 overs were able to manage only 230 for seven, but the conditions made fast scoring very difficult.

Alistair Campbell made a good start by pulling the second ball from Monjurul Islam to the boundary, but when the bowlers put the ball in the right place the batsmen struggled. Two fine straight drives by Campbell were slowed up so much by the thick outfield that they failed to reach the boundary, and it was obvious that the aerial route would be more profitable if they could avoid the fielders.

The bowling was not quite consistently accurate enough to put the batsmen under pressure to score, and the opening pair managed three an over before Whittall (16) holed out to long leg with the score on 49.

As Stuart Carlisle joined Campbell the scoring rate gradually moved up to four, reached at the same time as the century partnership. Runs came in a mixture of steady accumulation and big hits, Carlisle reaching his fifty with a six off the long-suffering Naimur Rahman before skying a big hit to the keeper to depart for 56; 182 for two, and the partnership of 133 was the second-best for Zimbabwe’s second wicket in One-Day Internationals. Alistair Campbell lashed the next ball through extra cover for his seventh Test century, but then holed out to long-on for 103.

Wickets then fell in a flurry as the batsmen were prepared to sacrifice everything in the chase for runs, but with limited success, as the bowlers managed to keep matters under control and the conditions hindered quick scoring. Bangladesh would have to bat magnificently to win.

BANGLADESH WIN TOSS AND DECIDE TO FIELD AGAINST ZIMBABWE

The second One-Day International between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh began under cloudy skies, but with no immediate prospect of rain; it will probably remain dry.

The pitch for the day was closer cut than that for the first match, so would probably be a little more favourable for batting. However, due to the underlying moisture it should again help the seamers early on, and by winning the toss for the second time Bangladesh had the chance to make amends for their error of Saturday and this time put Zimbabwe in to bat. It is unfortunate that on this ground the toss should so often be crucial to the course of the match.

Zimbabwe should be able to record a second victory, but may well have to work harder for it this time. There is always the possibility that they have underestimated the opposition, though, and that Bangladesh might just spring what would be a major surprise. Their play on the first day showed that they are still very inexperienced at international level.

Zimbabwe played the same team, while Bangladesh made the surprising move of dropping their one Test centurion Aminul Islam to bring in all-rounder Mehrab Hossain in an effort to strengthen their bowling.

The teams are:

Zimbabwe: *Heath Streak, Guy Whittall, Alistair Campbell, Stuart Carlisle, +Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Dion Ebrahim, Andy Blignaut, Dirk Viljoen, Bryan Strang, David Mutendera

Bangladesh: *Naimur Rahman, +Khaled Masud, Javed Omar, Al-Shahriar, Habibul Bashar, Mehrab Hossain, Akram Khan, Mohammad Rafique, Mushfiqur Rahman, Mohammad Sharif, Monjurul Islam.