[Match thread] Zimbabwe XI vs Bangladeshis (Tour match)

[maehara]

happy to see this prediction of mine came true...but worried about the nature of this pitch.

It's a lottery, it really is. Seems that just one half-decent partnership (which Bangladesh got in the first innings, while we didn't) is enough to turn the game.

[Kriterion_BD]

happy to see this prediction of mine came true...but worried about the nature of this pitch.

It's a lottery, it really is. Seems that just one half-decent partnership (which Bangladesh got in the first innings, while we didn't) is enough to turn the game.

yeah its strange cuz ZIM was actually ahead of us at the fall of the 5th wicket. 55-5 vs 31-5.

[andybligz93]

mawayo being picked again and AGAIN fails. brendan taylor should be playing and getting experience captaining his side.

...lets be fair, what did you want him to do, wickets were falling around him, oh yes, attack the bowling, but hang on, you'd be criticising him of carelessness, damned if he does damned he doesn't. I'm not a fan, but some criticism is harsh, he's currently top score of a shameful score card on 17, the second of two (excluding axtras) in double figures and its all his fault! Come on, lets be objective... the whole team has been abismal..end of.

he might have made 17 ! 17 ? he hs done nothing in now 5 innings ? how many chnaces and trys do you wanna give him? if he is being looked at to open for us at test level and he hasnt made a 50 in 5 innings or even a 40 ur better off looking somewhere else and trying someone else. i get its a dodgy pitch but thats part of being a opening batsman its not always a road and sunny conditions. there will come a time they play in england and have to open on a green pitch with overhead conditions and jimmy anderson swinging it like no tomorrow , 17 is not good enough.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

First ball of the Bangladeshi innings, Imrul Kayes b. Meth.

This is one awful pitch...

[warwolf]

First ball of the Bangladeshi innings, Imrul Kayes b. Meth.

This is one awful pitch...

Worst wicket i have heard in recent times.

[warwolf]

Fun continues. BD lost their first 2 wickets within 5 runs.

[maehara]

In principle I dont mind sporty pitches. Roads are boring if they are all that is produced.

There's a difference between 'sporty' and 'bad', though. And this one seems just plain bad.

[FlowerPower]

mawayo being picked again and AGAIN fails. brendan taylor should be playing and getting experience captaining his side.

...lets be fair, what did you want him to do, wickets were falling around him, oh yes, attack the bowling, but hang on, you'd be criticising him of carelessness, damned if he does damned he doesn't. I'm not a fan, but some criticism is harsh, he's currently top score of a shameful score card on 17, the second of two (excluding axtras) in double figures and its all his fault! Come on, lets be objective... the whole team has been abismal..end of.

he might have made 17 ! 17 ? he hs done nothing in now 5 innings ? how many chnaces and trys do you wanna give him? if he is being looked at to open for us at test level and he hasnt made a 50 in 5 innings or even a 40 ur better off looking somewhere else and trying someone else. i get its a dodgy pitch but thats part of being a opening batsman its not always a road and sunny conditions. there will come a time they play in england and have to open on a green pitch with overhead conditions and jimmy anderson swinging it like no tomorrow , 17 is not good enough.

...I did clearly say "I'm not a fan" and if truth be told I have said in other threads, if only Ballance was available (and actually wouldnt mind Duffin either), but to put context to my comment I felt in the overall skim of the innings, where he had made 17 when all else around him was crumbling was a bit harsh...granted, your comments may have not been in isolation of this innings only, but the other 4 in the season thus far, may hold water, point taken, but who do you suggest comes in at this late hour?

[hhm]

Are any of you at Sports Club?

I keep on hearing that this is a bad pitch and I have withheld my comment until verifying that fact, and people on the ground whose opinions I can relatively trust have told me that the pitch is fine. All that's happened is that substandard players have rocked up on it!

Zim is fielding very good and motivated seamers against a Bangladeshi order which has grown accustomed to sub-100 scores of late, while the entire Zim batting line-up, bar the rusty Taibu is pathetic. Don't forget, few bowlers if any in Zim can swing the ball better than Meth so I can imagine the trouble the Bangladeshi batsmen are facing, and if a fired up Jarvis is cranking it up then fireworks are in the offing.

No excuses guys. Jetlag or pitch! What we are witnessing is evident demonstration of world class club cricketers with a rush of adrenalin but guised in their respective national colours. That statement applies to the bulk of players there at least. You'll be hard-pressed to disagree. If our first team batting order was there we'd have something bearable on display. I dare say an innings win would be on the cards.

[maehara]

Just had the 'maybe they're all crap' discussion on Twitter.

I'd buy that if it was just us collapsing - we have long-established form in that department. Bangladesh, bar the odd exception, do not, and seeing it happen two innings in a row would further make be believe it's the pitch. Yes it's speculation, as I'm not at HSC, but the evidence - the scorecard - sure makes it seem the most likely reason.