Zimbabwe bigger threat than NZ

[AsifTheManRahman]

Originally Posted by Spitfire_x86
We'll win 4-1

Heads must roll if we don't win 5-0. No excuses for losing to a team ranked below us. Our reputation is more at stake against Zimbabwe than it was against New Zealand.

[al Furqaan]

Originally Posted by fishyguy
Zimbabwe's batting line up is much stronger that NZ at the moment. Brendan Taylor is pure class plus plus Masakadza is a beast. They bat right to #9. They have been smashing SA who have a much superior bowling attack than BD. Their weakness is their bowling. But then again BD's batting is still unreliable. In this series SN, Imrul and Shakib covered up an otherwise dismal batting performance.

the exact batting lineup they have (minus grant flower of course) were bundled for 44 all out in chittagong the last time they toured.

BD's bowling attack is far superior to SA's if you take away Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel.

charlize theron's five wicket haul notwithstanding...

every since bristol, we have been defending 50 over totals, that Ishant Sharma would concede in his average 10 over spell.

[al Furqaan]

Originally Posted by AsifTheManRahman
Heads must roll if we don't win 5-0. No excuses for losing to a team ranked below us. Our reputation is more at stake against Zimbabwe than it was against New Zealand.

i too think it will be 4-1.

actually, after this 5th ODI, after bristol...i think it will be 5-0 to us. zimbabwe have yet to prove that they can handle spin. 3rd string overpaid IPL scrubs on the benign tracks of bulawayo don't count.

but i WON'T be surprised if we lose one and have to settle for 4-1. at the same time, i think the team believes they can defend any total on earth. you don't defend 174 unless you actually believe you can do it. not in this day of 20 overs of PPs, and twenty-twentification of ODI cricket.

when Kapil and company defended 183 to lift the cup, they did so in an era when gavaskar could play 30 off 200, and still get picked to play the next game!

[al Furqaan]

Originally Posted by Ashfaq
While I acknowledge that Zimbabwe have improved, let's not bury our heads in the sands. We have been destroying Zimbabwe while NZ have been destroying us on our turf. One bad series from the NZ can not and does not mean they are now weaker than Zim. India WILL be surprized by the black caps, you can count on that. And I wouldn't read too much in ZIM's current performance. Sure they have improved, but SA pace attack is lead by Tsotsobe, for god's sake. The last time they toured SA, ZIM ran SA pretty close too, then we owned them 4-1 in their own backyard.

So, yeah, let's not press the panic button just yet.

exactly, taibu hit a classy ton, and ZIM posted 295.

then what happened in chittagong last november?

44 all out. and that was with us dropping some catches and fielding only averagely.

[ashraful1]

After the landing a nice Banglawash against new zealand I'm expecting nothing more then another one, I also feel maybe this will be a good chance to try other players like hom, jahrul, and couple others, and I really think they won't survive our slow pitches.

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[Tiger444]

Nice to bring down our wins now..NZ is definitely a better team then Zimbabwe is..they might have struggled a lot against us but this is still a good batting side..also you compare their bowling there is no comparison..so can't say their a better team..

[cricket_dorshok]

I am with Baundule.
SN is here, so no worry.

[AsifTheManRahman]

Originally Posted by al Furqaan
you don't defend 174 unless you actually believe you can do it.

Yeah about that...Siddons' boss needs to give him a kick in the butt. What the heck kind of a score is 174?

[al Furqaan]

Originally Posted by AsifTheManRahman
Yeah about that...Siddons' boss needs to give him a kick in the butt. What the heck kind of a score is 174?

to be fair i think the pitch actually flattened out in the 2nd innings apart from bounce.

mills and bennet got appreciable bounce in the first innings...and vettori got some turn. mckay was getting ridiculous seam movement...he was moving it a good 12-18 inches off the seam!

when we bowled, we didn't seem to get that. but maybe NZ's bowlers are better than ours. oh wait, 4-0...never mind, must have been the wicket flattening out a bit or at least offering less turn and seam movement.

[Murad]

How many of you guys watched the game live?

Man the grounds are so small. Those 4s in SA are hardly 2s in SBNS.

I don't know how Rusty Theron got all these wickets. He is crap! SA bowling attack missing their key bowlers: Steyn, Kallis and M Morkel.

[zman]

If I had to choose between 174 and 280, I'd obviously want us to score 280. But with the benefit of hindsight I'm glad the way things worked out.

Merits of this result are two fold. Our bowlers and fielding unit can take a lot of positives out of this match, grow more faith in themselves and learn from first hand experience -- which is the most effective form of learning -- that the match is never really over until Sabina Yasmeen sings.

Also, frailties in our batting order have been exposed, as it stands, which will reduce the chances of complacency from our batsmen at the beginning of the next series, and yet luckily for us--batting is our forte. Holes in our batting can be fixed more easily than had it been our bowling. I'd also like to point out that our batsmen's struggles were mainly against fast bowlers--the likes of which Zim clearly doesn't have--and although Zim's slow bowlers may have a little more bite than what we've seen from NZ, it's not significant enough to warrant serious concerns.

Rather, playing in home conditions against a weaker pace attack and decent slow bowlers, I can see even our pussycat Roqibul suddenly turning into a roaring Royal Bengal Tiger.

Does anyone have any knowledge about when the Zimbabwe series begins?

[Rinathq]

If Bangladesh bats first, i can see an easy 300+ score against their weak bowling lineup. It will be very easy to destroy ZIM. The reason why they are doing decent against SA is because of the similar condition. However, its a completely different story in Bangladesh. They will be very uncomfortable against the BD spinners or i should have said "the worlds best spin attack"
Bangladesh will also bat better with Tamim on the team.

[roman]

Originally Posted by WarWolf
Taibu, Masakadja and Coventry are there. Don't forget it brother.

And dont forget Grant flower either. He might be dangerous aginst us. I think series against Zim is our Ashes...

[Rizvi]

Does anyone have the answer to the question many are asking?

"Does anyone have any knowledge about when the Zimbabwe series begins?"

[metallian]

Originally Posted by Rizvi
Does anyone have the answer to the question many are asking?

"Does anyone have any knowledge about when the Zimbabwe series begins?"

i'd like to know the answer as well.

[bujhee kom]

I agree with FishyGuy bro totally here! Zim series will be a much tougher beast I believe too. And also as Zim is climbing back up again, they do target BD as their best possible beatable (might be a non-existent word, but you know what I am saying) opponent as we are right there with them, plus point number 2 - last year or so, Zim always winningat least a match per series, whether the opponent is Australia, India or whoever! (Yes it is true, they usually win at the beginning of the series match, like the first match, after that they can't keep it up, they tend to get very tired and hopeless, Now Bd remember BD also has a pattern of history in this fashin). Third, Zim won 2 matches out the 4 played matches against BD in BD, that was a 2-2 draw series, the way one can look at it (it was (1+1)Zim and 2 (BD), do you understand dadas, what I am sayin in here?, the series had 3 matches and their was tri-nation thing the week before where they faced each other only once and BD bite the dust)

But in our hearts we will wish for the best for BD, but in doing so we must not forget blown ego, big headedness is never a beautiful thing, it's rather the ugliest of things. All our BD/Tiger fans, who want to see BD succeed and want to enjoy a good feeling when BD does that, this is my seriously proven suggestion: Those of us amongst us who pray, those who are religious (whatever that religion may be) please talk less, type big fonted hyped up big words of dream, rather engage yourself in a little bit of praying for the Tigers. Hope for the best but we should always jump less, talk less, wait for the strike moment and after the opponent is crushed, rejoice but with certain calm and elegant composure, like a heavy weight champ/victor. Now at this crossrroad of our BD cricket life we would like to make our opponents not fear, but respect us first. And those of us who has no connection with any religion or religious at all, again please think positive for the Tigers and engage in constructive thoughts and conversation on how to fix our cricket deficiencies, how to improve the cricket culture of BD etc.

Because if we fans and well-wishers just talk big and dream rainbows, and then we get mud thrown in inner-spirit when we crash (which happened more than often until just a few weeks ago) it's no good, it happenned to me, happens to me and it hurts very bad, it get you very depressed and makes you feel worthless often about your own-self, we don't want to hurt like that.

Go Tigers! BD

[reyme]

Originally Posted by Rizvi
Does anyone have the answer to the question many are asking?

"Does anyone have any knowledge about when the Zimbabwe series begins?"

NOV 26: ZIM arrives
DEC 01: 1ST ODI
DEC 12: 5TH ODI

Now go ahead and sleep in peace.

[MohammedC]

Originally Posted by reyme
NOV 26: ZIM arrives
DEC 01: 1ST ODI
DEC 12: 5TH ODI

Now go ahead and sleep in peace.

after that we have nothing for 2 months. Thats a big headache.

[betaar]

My biggest concern is Tamim’s return after his injury - what if he is never the same?

On the topic, even though Zim’s batting is more consistent than ours but I think we’ll be ok. They may be scoring at a high rate against not so versatile SA bowling on flat tracks, but batting here in Dhaka would be a whole different thing. But cricket is a great leveler, so we must not be complacent. I predict a 4-1 outcome.

[betaar]

Originally Posted by MohammedC
after that we have nothing for 2 months. Thats a big headache.

We should invite Pakis...........

[reyme]

Yes, we need to invite PAK, they owe us a series anyways. It will be a good series, as long as dont start biting the balls again. And please put Moni in jail and start the UDRS.

[fiasnahk]

Finally!! someone who shares my concerns. I actually saw that t20 between Zim and SA recently on t.v. I have to say that they have a better batting line up compared to us. We have tamim and shakib, but their batting lineup right from 1-6 are quite good. Their bowling is crap, but our batsmen don't have the initiative to attack them. Even if they are throwing pies, the rok will just do what a rock does, nothing. We can only get 260 against teams with our current strategy, unless tamim blasts a 100. I still think we will win 3-2 though...

[Dilscoop]

Originally Posted by betaar
My biggest concern is Tamim’s return after his injury - what if he is never the same?

I bet it has anything to do with an extra bone in his wrist.

[cricket_king]

You guys need to calm down. Their batting, though improved, is still not better than us. You guys are watching a T20/ODI series on the flat decks of South Africa. Very similar pitches to Zimbabwe, where, if you can recall, we chased down a score in excess of 300. So calm the hell down. I'd be surprised if they can reach 250 on our pitches. Their spin bowlers will be a handful for our batsmen though.

[Jadukor]

Originally Posted by cricket_king
You guys need to calm down. Their batting, though improved, is still not better than us. You guys are watching a T20/ODI series on the flat decks of South Africa. Very similar pitches to Zimbabwe, where, if you can recall, we chased down a score in excess of 300. So calm the hell down. I'd be surprised if they can reach 250 on our pitches. Their spin bowlers will be a handful for our batsmen though.

SA pitches were flat and easy for runs scoring but that doesn't take anything away from Zimbabwe batting lineup whacking quality SA bowlers around... They have 6 batters with a lot of fire power... We only have Tamim... While the scores might not be as high as 300 over here..but I anticipate Zimbabwe to consistently score 250 even on our pitches...

Our biggest worry will be the no. 3 and 4 positions and no. 7 in the batting order... Raquibul and Junaid is far too inconsistent to be persisted with in those key positions... almost every game we are 4 wickets down under a hundred... and Mahmudullah hasn't proved himself in pressure situations... he only seems to score when the match is already lost...

I hope we will try drafting in Aftab, Nazimuddin, Johurul for a bit more firepower in deshi conditions... Aftab (at 7) can definitely bully the current zimbabwe bowling line up during the final powerplay