Test 1, Day 1, Tea: The lowdown as I see it

[al Furqaan]

so the match thread starts with a heated debate or argument involving Beamer, Spitty, myself and few other members on BC. of course, this has been discussed before, and perhaps it will be discussed again, but thats not the subject of this thread.

this thread is to analyze the real facts behind the match so far.

at the moment of writing this, we are 101-4 at tea after 63 overs. mehrab jr on 42 and rahim on 19, both unbeaten.

let us remember first of all that for the following players, this is the only FC match they have played in nearly 8 months:

tamim
ash
junaid
sakib
rahim
mehrab

this is very nearly the entire top order of our batting team. any team would be rusty after 8 months. add to this the fact that we have very few caps and abundand youth, who have not yet learned the basics of cricket, and it is plain to see that we will struggle. our education continues.

now we have 4 wickets gone and lets analyze them.

1) Junaid - dismissed first ball. this can happen, more so to bangladeshi batsman, but again there isn't much one achieves by harping on this dismissal. lack of match practice and a new bowler for the series (obrien) can sometimes do this. should junaid fail again in the 2nd innings, this becomes a bit more problematic.

conclusion: non-idiotic dismissal

2) tamim - this wicket was completely moronic, in the classical "bangaldeshi dismissal" mode. 2nd ball after lunch, TI goes for a drive after being over-patient the previous session. attacking is fine, but do it after being set. not after the 2nd ball of the session. this was a truly reversible, irresponsible, and pathetic dismissal.

conclusion: idiotic dismissal

3) rajin - most would agree rajin does not have the class to even be in the side. his 20 runs, however slow, were thus a bonus. his dismissal can therefore also be ruled out as something outside of our control.

conclusion: non idiotic dismissal

4) ashraful - the last dismissal was soft. he didn't throw his wicket away as is often the case, so at least that headache is gone. he got out trying to defend, which indicates that he is out of form and his 35 ball stay at the crease couldn't rectify it. all players are out of form at some time and have soft dismissals. again, like junaid, such things often happen and you can't help it. better luck in the next innings.

conclusion: non idiotic dismissal

another factor is the temperment of our current lineup. the players who in my opinion have good to great temperement are:

junaid
rahim
naeem
raqib
rajin

those with average temperement are:

tamim (1st session good, 2nd session terrible)
ash (can have good temperment, but sometimes bad)
sakib

the only guy with bad temperment was:

aftab (and he is no longer around)

further, plenty of teams find themselves at 44-4, but manage to create a large total. i don't expect us to do it today, but should we do it, this is the essence of test cricket that gets lost in the limited overs versions: building an innings.

bottom line is, today's play, taken in and of itself, offers no reason to be overly pessimistic or frustrated.

[al Furqaan]

also this is based purely on CI ball by ball coverage. if you watched the match live, you might see something i missed.

[Spitfire_x86]

bottom line is, today's play, taken in and of itself, offers no reason to be overly pessimistic or frustrated.

There's no reason to be pleased if 2.5 hours of effort brings 44/4 in the 1st day of a test played in a batting friendly surface.

[mijanur]

inshallah mehrab will score an magnificent century

[al Furqaan]

Originally Posted by Spitfire_x86
There's no reason to be pleased if 2.5 hours of effort brings 44/4 in the 1st day of a test played in a batting friendly surface.

thats true also. but no reason to be frustrated.

i'm not pleased with this performance, but i am looking for rays of hope.

[Abid_Khan]

Bangladesh doing really well at the moment and are playing in the nature of Test Cricket, not crazy-hardhitting style. we should be happy the way they are going at the moment and we have a strong batting department.

[al Furqaan]

if we can head to stumps with 4 wickets down, it will be a HUGE moral booster.

[scoilaheez]

We made it 183/4... you can probably add mehrab to the list of those with good temperament. He batted in cruise control and dont think he gave away any chances either.

[al Furqaan]

after the first session at 34-1, we had hopes of reaching 200-4 ideally.

in the end we got there (almost) 183-4, though the route was the not the conventional route.

the positives now are:

demoralizing NZ (of course not by much)
negating the new ball with no loss of wicket
unbeaten partnership means a fresh shot for the pair
we should target a total of 300

if rajib clicks, and with mash in form, a 300 total should be very competitive for the green kiwis.

we should have a match on our hand, especially if the wicket deteriorats.

our goal should be to bat 2 sessions tomorrow.

[al Furqaan]

mehrab added. can't wait for a raqibul to come back. i hope sakib can do something with the bat.

[samjad]

It was frustrating to loose 44-4 , but promising to see we didnot collapse after that. 180/4 is a very good score. And I am hoping to reach 300 tomorrow.

[PoorFan]

Good thing is ...

A target of 300 is think-able.
Possibly if we manage to play slow and cool until tea ... the game can last for 5th day.
Could be a foundation to avoid innings defeat.
And if we are lucky enough to play better long 2nd innings [as we playing 1st] ... a dream draw also on the card.

...

ok enough! looks like I am going too far.

[BanCricFan]

Good days play. Mehrab and Mushfiq stood up and gave a good account of themselves. Now, they need to add atleast 50 more runs tomorrow to give us the advantage. The new ball is 13 overs old but will still assist the faster bowlers early in the morning for ten overs or so. They need to leave as many as possible early on. If they can do that, no doubt, we will be in the driving seat, insha allah!

Had we had 50 more runs on the board it would have been our day completely. One goal is achived- played out the day and made the Kiwis toil. We cannot afford to have any collapses tomorrow, otherwise, all the good effort of the two little fellas will go to waste. 350+ and batting till the Tea is a must.

[BanCricFan]

Originally Posted by PoorFan
Good thing is ...

A target of 300 is think-able.
Possibly if we manage to play slow and cool until tea ... the game can last for 5th day.
Could be a foundation to avoid innings defeat.
And if we are lucky enough to play better long 2nd innings [as we playing 1st] ... a dream draw also on the card.

...

ok enough! looks like I am going too far.

Bro, 350+ will put us on the top. But, its imperative that we bat till Tea. If we do that, it wont be easy for the Kiwis to take a substantial lead. Ball should turn big on the third day in CTG. Wish Enamul was in the side!

[Fazal]

Overall I see it this way (after 1st TEST)....

Tamim: very disappointing that he is playing in two different extremes and forget that there is 2nd, 3rd, 4th grear between 1st and 5th gear like his captain. He hope he doesn't atrt picking up bad habits from his captain.

Junaid: Again I have feeling that he is prooving the Pandits wrong, after all he may not be the best short term solution... atleast he may not be ready yet... but then again... he is a opener and its too early to discount him.... sh*ts happens to openers.

Rajin: Did I expect much better from Rajin? No. He can stay in the wicket with his will power ,,, but can he rearly can score fluently ... there is no surprise there. There may still be a short term role for Rajin.... but don't expect runs from him. Another short gap player waiting to be replaces..... any time we use on him is kind missed opportunity for the team in long term.


Ash: What a joke. He is makeing mokery of Siddon's team rule to an extreme. Based on interviews Siddon's rule of staying to the wicket (specially at the begining to build the innings) and minimize high risk shots and punish bad balls ... that is start slowly but solidly.... I have no problem with that.... the problem i have is how Ash,...one of the most experienced player in the team... the captain of the team... is doing mockery of the game rules. He is simply mentally incapable of getting rid of bad habbits or learning new tricks....he should seriously start thinking of only playing one form of cricket.... and I suggest only 20-20 cricket. He is incapable of handling complexed and dynamic decicion making situations.... he howed it many times.. many ways... that he knows to execute game plan that is simplistic.... either thukaoo.... or hakaoo.... no inbetween.... so why not make his life simople and just use him in 20-20 and give him the license to kill or be killed?

Mehrab: The so called Water boy ( already announced by some sector of the fans) showed who is the real boss as the end of the day... he showed how to execute Siddon;s game plan and his RS is perfectly ok with me. These are one of the few young players who is willing to listen, and adjust to coach's instruction and flexible enough to adjust agression based on team rule/game need. I don;t knwo if he is a long term solution or not, but short-term wise he should be rewarded for his effort in this innings.... I hope he doen't become another Farhad Reza or Rana of Bangladesh where he will always be after thought and a forgotten man.

Rahim: We knew what he can do with the bat if he is in form. And looks like slowly he is gaining the form. If he can continue to grow like that, he will be great treasure for us in future.


Morala of the story....

Its hard to teach new tricks to old dogs.

[Spitfire_x86]

Although it should've been 240-250 for 4-5 wickets (by our standards, for other teams 300+), still better than being allout below 200 within Day 1.

I'd call it a 50/50 day, as NZ can still come back strongly and bowl us out within 250. We should be able to bat for 2 more sessions and make around 350.

[Umar]

i am hoping SAKIB and NAEM does something Really good. Sakib needs runs. Naem needs to confirm his place in the team..

when Rakibul comes back ..he can replace rajin.
if Junaid fails in 2nd innings( i have a bad feeling that he will flop again)...Get Imrul for the second test.
I think shahadat is OK for test matches. but if he fails(hope not).. get Rassel in next match.
if Razzak fails (which i have a bad feeling about)...Give Robin a chance.

But i hope this team will do it for BD and we won't need any changes.

[Tigers_eye]

Fans of BD cricket,
How many times we saw 44/4 and then 120-160 allout? Why didn't this happen yesterday? Think. Think inside and outside of the box. Using braincells sometimes is good for health.

[One World]

Originally Posted by al Furqaan
if we can head to stumps with 4 wickets down, it will be a HUGE moral booster.

I loved Boost, Kapil Dev loved it.

[One World]

Originally Posted by Umar
i am hoping SAKIB and NAEM does something Really good. Sakib needs runs. Naem needs to confirm his place in the team..

when Rakibul comes back ..he can replace rajin.
if Junaid fails in 2nd innings( i have a bad feeling that he will flop again)...Get Imrul for the second test.
I think shahadat is OK for test matches. but if he fails(hope not).. get Rassel in next match.
if Razzak fails (which i have a bad feeling about)...Give Robin a chance.

But i hope this team will do it for BD and we won't need any changes.

We just need this partnership to survive as long possible and another partnership in the lower order.

[Baundule]

All well that ends well

[Baundule]

Originally Posted by One World
I loved Boost, Kapil Dev loved it.

[Rabz]

Well, this is what i had to say on the match thread just after the end of the day's play.


WOW!!!
What a performance by this two!!!

SInce they came on to bat (this pair), i did not post a single post, thought that might jinx them!!!
and they stayed intact!!!!!!

saw the day thru from a horrific situation....

im happy my sacrifice has worked...!!!
===========

Lol, call it luck, call it just pure coincidence.. i dont care.
Bottom line is, we did not lose any more wicket today....

[Nafi]

''The top-order batsmen were more concerned with survival than scoring runs. After a relatively slow start, both batsmen began to dominate the bowling. In contrast to those who had already been dismissed, they were looking to score runs, rather than just keeping their wickets in hand. The ploy worked, with their unbroken 139-run stand a record fifth-wicket partnership for Bangladesh.''

[Tigers_eye]

Let us make it a three day game. Bat throughout the day!! Come on boys!! Another 40 maiden over day will do just fine. no rush what so ever!!

Tamim-Rajin's hard was paid off by Merab-Mushi. Patel did bowl some lose balls. The only one who didn't move is Oram. We need to take him out.