Match report Zimbabwe v Bangladesh 2003/04 1st Test day 4 by John Ward

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Scorecard:

Zimbabwe v Bangladesh

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Lunch: Bangladesh 331; Zimbabwe (2) 39/1 (Ebrahim 25*, Carlisle 7*). Tea: Zimbabwe 136/3 (2) (Taibu 30*, Ervine 30*). Close: Zimbabwe 242/8 (2) dec; Bangladesh (2) 25/5.

 

The fourth day at Harare Sports Club was one of contrasts. Its first half continued the slow tempo that has generally characterized this match, with the Zimbabwe players perhaps so conscious that Bangladesh were now a threat that they felt the pressure and were unable to play their natural games.

 

Then in midafternoon they decided it was time to put their foot on the pedal. Tatenda Taibu and Sean Ervine, successful in the first innings, both scored fifties again, but the moment of the day was a sensational, if fortunate, hat-trick by Andy Blignaut that sent Bangladesh tumbling towards likely defeat. They finished the day at 25 for five, needing 353 to win.

 

Zimbabwe appeared to have no hope of winning this match when they could not even separate the last two Bangladeshi batsmen for 40 minutes at the only time of day when there is any help for the bowlers in the Harare Sports Club pitch. Bangladesh resumed on 313 for nine, but were in no hurry to take the field. Andy Blignaut appeared near to boiling point as the batsmen continually played and missed just outside off stump, but he seemed unable to locate the timbers.

 

Finally last man Monjurul Islam (5) did nick one to the keeper off him, and the innings closed for 331, 110 behind, and debutant Manjarul Islam Rana was left unbeaten with a valuable 35. The 43 they added was a new Bangladeshi record in Test cricket for the last pair. Streak might have broken through earlier had he been on the field; although not at his best, he took four for 44 in 26.2 overs. Douglas Hondo, who completed Streak’s unfinished over of the previous evening, had three for 49 and the disappointing Blignaut two for 73.

 

Zimbabwe began cautiously, despite Dion Ebrahim just escaping being run out off the first ball of the second innings in stealing a quick single. Trevor Gripper looked unconvincing, scoring only 5 before he failed to get across far enough to a fine delivery from left-arm seamer Monjurul Islam and edged a ball to the keeper; 12 for one.

 

Islam was getting a little swing and it was very deceptive, moving the ball either way, and he bowled much better than he had done in the first innings. By lunch Zimbabwe had 39 on the board off 16 overs, and the odds were looking more favourably disposed towards a draw.

 

After lunch Ebrahim, who had tried his best to move the score along, edged Tabash Baishya low to second slip, where Hannan Sarkar held a good catch right next to the ground falling forward. He made 31, and Zimbabwe were 50 for two. Grant Flower, who did not look really fit for Test cricket in this match – he was also unable to bowl - did not last long, edging Baishya to the keeper for 3. Zimbabwe needed quick runs for a declaration, but their batting was going according to tradition and not according to plan.

 

Stuart Carlisle, after a slow start, began to bat soundly again, but after a while called for a runner. He had taken quite a hammering fielding at short leg and it was clearly bothering him. This was to prove fatal, as the batsmen did not exercise more care caution in their running as would be advisable, and a quick single from a push by Carlisle on the leg side proved fatal for his runner, Ebrahim. Hannan Sarkar, always in action in the field, threw down the stumps to remove Carlisle and runner for 33. Zimbabwe were 90 for four.

 

Tatenda Taibu was bustling along, but as so often it was when Sean Ervine came to the crease that the scoring rate began to rise, and he quickly stood tall at the crease and produced some of his trademark beautifully timed boundaries through the covers, together with some delicate turns or flicks to fine leg. Left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique was now in action and the interest grew rapidly as his contest with batsmen committed now to attack unfolded.

 

Both batsmen had 30 at the tea interval and the race was on for the first to reach his fifty, with Taibu stepping up the aggression and playing some powerful leg-side shots. He beat Ervine to the half-century, but then drove the consistent Rafique, who was still commanding respect, to extra cover for 58. Zimbabwe were 180 for five.

 

Ervine reached his fifty soon afterwards, off just 51 balls; for both him and Taibu it was the second fifty of the match and shows eloquently where the team’s batting strength lies. It is virtually a case of forget the specialists; the all-rounders will do the job. He continued the onslaught after reaching the landmark, not even Rafique escaping punishment; he also hit several straight boundaries, mostly over the bowler’s head, a stroke few batsmen were able to play on this pitch.

 

Ervine unselfishly perished on the midwicket boundary for 74 off 78 balls, and Gavin Ewing lasted only four balls for a single before being caught at the wicket off Rafique, reducing Zimbabwe to 234 for seven with Streak unlikely to bat.

 

Blignaut was meanwhile shaking off the self-imposed shackles that have hampered his batting over the past few months. He hit Manjarul Islam Rana for a straight six, but next ball stepped away and swung at a ball that kept low and hit his leg stump. He made 32, Zimbabwe were 242 for eight, and after what looked like about half a minute of indecision, they declared. Bangladesh were set 353 to win in a minimum of 104 overs, and a steady improvement in the weather meant that interruptions were less likely than had been feared.

 

The old adage that God and umpires are always on the side of the big battalions seemed to prove true, as Bangladesh, up against it, suffered a major blow when umpire David Orchard adjudged their most adhesive batsman, Shahriar Hossain, lbw for 1. It was a borderline decision regarding height, but the batsman was not given the benefit of any doubt.

 

The embattled captain, Habibul Bashar, sadly completed his ‘pair’, this time to a more likely decision as he moved across his stumps as Hondo brought the ball back to beat the bat, and the lbw decision looked likely. As if this was not enough for the tourists, Blignaut did one of his regular switches from drain to dream to record a hat-trick, with a bit of luck.

 

It was the fifth over of the innings. With his third ball, Blignaut won a likely lbw decision against Sarkar (10), moving across his stumps. Mohammad Ashraful, after the glories of his first innings, reached for the next ball and sliced a low catch into the gully. Blignaut’s next ball ripped back at Mushfiqur Rahman and umpire Mallender adjudged him caught at the wicket – Zimbabwe’s first hat-trick in Test cricket. Unfortunately, the television replay showed that it was marred: the ball hit the top of Rahman’s pad and not his bat. Once again the big battalions – usually NOT Zimbabwe – found God and the umpires on their side. Bangladesh were staggering at 14 for five.

 

History it was, however, and it was sad that on a Sunday there should be such a disappointingly small crowd, of just a few hundred, to witness it, and they were pretty somnolent until the Bangladeshi wickets started to fall. With the best day’s weather of the four to date, the only evident reasons were the slow cricket, with Zimbabwe mainly responsible, earlier in the match and poor marketing strategies.

 

There was no more excitement for the day, as Rajin Saleh, the 20-year-old vice-captain, and Manjarul Islam Rana played out time with great caution. Only the weather or remarkable circumstances can now save Bangladesh from defeat, just as they may justifiably have felt they were in with a good chance of a draw.

 

(Article: Copyright © 2004 John Ward)