A DRESS REHEARSAL! Zimbabwean opener Brendan Taylor (R) and recalled former captain Tatenda Taibu had a field day at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium yesterday. The pair added 188 runs for the second wicket against BCB XI in the second practice match ahead of the first one-day international against the Tigers tomorrow.Photo: STAR

Zimbabweans shrugged off Friday's shock-loss with a 192-run thumping of the BCB XI in their second and last practice match at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium yesterday.
Even if only a practice match, the Zimbabweans made sure they had a good time out in the middle as they first put on a huge total of 335 for 5 on the board and then led the rollers on the BCB XI batsmen.
Most of the Zimbabwean batsmen got runs in the game, the most coming from opener Brendan Taylor who hammered 139 off 137 deliveries that consisted half-a-dozen sixes and nine boundaries.
It was his 188-run partnership for the second wicket with Tatenda Taibu that laid the foundation for a massive total. Taibu contributed 68. After the departure of the two, Elton Chigumbura and Malcolm Waller took the charge and finished with flurries to give the BCB XI something of a mountain to climb.
And that mountain looked insurmountable when the BCB XI lost their opener Imrul Kayes off the first delivery of the innings from Chris Mpofu. The innings never really got going as the Zimbabwean bowlers, both seamers and spinners, kept coming away with important breakthroughs just when someone looked to be settling down.
The limping innings came to an end in the 37th over with only 143 runs on the board. The highest individual score of the innings was 30 and that came from the bat of veteran all-rounder Faisal Hossain who seems to have been having a purple patch off late. Chamu Chibhabha was the most successful bowler for the Zimbabweans with three wickets while Prosper Utseya was the most impressive with figures of two for ten in seven overs.

SCORES IN BRIEF
Zimbabwe 335 for 5 (Taylor 139, Taibu 68, Chigumbura 45; Faysal 2-52) beat BCB XI 143 all out (Faysal 30, Shamsur 29; Chibhabha 3-29, Utseya 2-10) by 192 runs.