On a beautiful sunny morning at Harare Sports Club, Bangladesh unwittinglysigned their own death warrant by deciding to bat against Zimbabwe
John Ward07-Apr-2001On a beautiful sunny morning at Harare Sports Club, Bangladesh unwittinglysigned their own death warrant by deciding to bat against Zimbabwe. Thosewho have known the pitches at Harare Sports Club over the last couple ofyears would probably have fielded first, as the pitch tends to be liveliestat the start of a match and settle down later. The amount of rain duringthe past two months made it deceptively favourable to seamers, and Zimbabwewould certainly have fielded given the choice.
Blignautbowls Akram
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The result was that Bangladesh could score only 151 for eight in their 50overs, a total that never challenged Zimbabwe who enjoyed the betterbatting conditions but took more than 43 overs to complete their task.This was actually a considerable recovery for the tourists after their firstfour wickets had fallen for 14 runs, virtually ending the match as acontest.The most likely hope of salvaging anything from batting in theseconditions would be to play safe but Bangladesh were too eager to get the score moving and paid the penalty. Heath Streak picked up one wicket and Bryan Strang two, both moving the ball sharply off the pitch, while Habibul Bashar was run out without facing a ball as the batsmen unwisely took on Guy Whittall’s arm attempting a second run.In the circumstances, Bangladesh’s recovery was highly commendable.Although frequently troubled by the ball just outside off stump, AkramKhan (35) and Naimur Rahman (19) dug in to see off the opening seamers.Andy Blignaut bowled superbly, but it was David Mutendera who brokethrough with two more wickets. He had Naimur caught at third man and yorkedKhaled Masud without scoring in the same over.Mushfiqur Rahman then stood in the breach with Akram and the pressuregradually relaxed, but it never looked as if Bangladesh would be able to setZimbabwe a challenging target. The home crowd generously cheered thetourists as the hundred came up with six wickets down in the 39th over.They had added 64, a new record for Bangladesh’s seventh wicket in One-DayInternationals, when Mushfiqur (31) was well caught at short leg offBlignaut, and immediately afterwards Akram’s gallant innings came to an endat 35, well yorked by the same bowler.Still Bangladesh continued to fight, with Mohammad Rafique playing somepowerful strokes, aided by Mohammad Sharif, but they still lack experiencein scoring quickly at the death, while Zimbabwe gave nothing away. Theyjust succeeded in reaching 150 before their time ran out.Zimbabwe did not get away as smoothly as they would have wished, and therewere signs that the batsmen were perhaps not as focused as they might havebeen. Mohammad Sharif secured the first wicket, bowling Alistair Campbellfor five off the inside edge of his diagonal bat.The Bangladeshi bowling was not quick but it was tight; Whittall became somewhat becalmed but Stuart Carlisle played confidently and well. When left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique came on, Carlisle hit him for two successive sixes to take his score to 37 while Whittall was still on nine. Then he went surprisingly quiet until he prodded at Rafique and was caught at the wicket for 40 to leave Zimbabwe 73 for two.
Bangladeshcelebrate the wicket of Carlisle
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Whittall eventually fell for a laborious 26, caught at backward point, butthe scoring rate remained at about three an over, with Bangladesh keeping ittight and Zimbabwe uninspired. The hundred did not come up until the 34thover and even Andy Flower seemed unable to get out of second gear until hesuddenly swung Naimur over square leg for six twice in an over, soon afterbeing given not out to an apparent slight edge to the keeper. The ratemight have been lower but for some Bangladeshi clumsiness in the field.Finally, with victory close, the Flower brothers opened up, taking Zimbabwehome by seven wickets in the 44th over. Andy finished on 40 and Grant 32,and Dion Ebrahim on his debut did not get a bat. Bryan Strang was adjudgedMan of the Match for his fine bowling.