Rain looms over Tigers charge

UNDER CLOUDS: The Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium was under a shroud of gloom after clouds gathered due to a depression in the bay. The fourth one-dayer against Zimbabwe is under threat from the elements as rain is forecast for Friday. INSET: Bangladesh national team cricketers running off the field as the heavens opened during practice yesterday.Photo: STAR

Bangladesh's hope of clinching the one-day series against Zimbabwe today with a match in hand has been dealt a blow due to a lengthy spell of heavy rain yesterday that also curtailed their training session on the eve of the fourth one-dayer at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
The Tigers lead the five-match ODI series 2-1 after conceding the first game but bouncing back in the next two, all played in Dhaka.
At best, according to the ground and match officials, the fourth one-dayer is not expected to have the scheduled 9:00am start, a truncated game more likely to be the order of the day.
Weather reports have a forecast for heavy rain this morning, the sort that could spell doom for the match. Though it stopped raining late in the evening, a short spell the night before the match could be troublesome for the groundsmen.
"I doubt if the match can start in time. If the rain continues into the night, it would become very difficult [for it to take place]," said Zahid Reza, curator at the Chittagong venue, who took over earlier this year.
Zahid had to work alongside the numerous groundsmen last night under the floodlights, clearing away the water from the top of the covers. "The drainage system that exists in Mirpur is of course not here. There is a slope but its nothing like Mirpur," he added.
The cause of this sudden bout of showers is predictably a depression at Bay, this time formed over the North Bay, an extension of which is attached to the Chittagong Bay.
The port city is no stranger to rain abandoned matches as both venues -- the MA Aziz Stadium and the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium -- experienced this fate twice in the last eight years. The last time a match was abandoned without a ball being bowled was the second ODI between Bangladesh and New Zealand at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
Moments before the Tigers had to leave the ground and take shelter in the newly-furnished dressing room, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza told the reporters that he expects a lot of turn on the wicket that has been prepared for the team. Jamie Siddons had only last month said that the Chittagong wicket is perfect for spinners when there's a bit of dampness on it.
"We recently practiced here for three days and saw the amount of turn here. It is double than last time and definitely more than Dhaka's, plus it is uneven," said the pace spearhead who was somewhat back to his old self in the third one-dayer on Monday.
"If we can start off well, the spinners can take control, much like they have done in the last three games.
"Of course we [new-ball duo] have to put a check on the runs and if we can get a breakthrough, it would make the job of the spinners much easier," he said.
Chief selector Rafiqul Alam said that there won't be any changes but if the game starts at the latest time, there might be one.
"We are going with the same team [as the 3rd ODI], but if necessary we might change. It depends on the situation we are in tomorrow. If the game starts, say at 1:00pm, something might pop up," said Rafiqul.
Zimbabwe began training yesterday under overcast skies and a slight drizzle. Though a few of their players sounded confident about the weather, poor weather was inevitable as news of Dhaka's unseasonal rain trickled through. No sooner had the Tigers started to warm up, the drizzle turned into a downpour as the players rushed in. Only Abdur Razzak, Mushfiqur Rahim, Rokibul Hasan and Sohrawardi Shuvo were seen spending some time at the adjacent indoor facilities as the rain continued to pour.
Mashrafe, meanwhile, was critical of the batsmen who faltered in the last game and an outfield that looks mostly barren.
"We have to improve our batting. We would have been in trouble had it not been for the Shakib [Al Hasan]-Mushfiqur [Rahim] partnership. A good start from Tamim [Iqbal] and Imrul [Kayes] is what we need since we know that spin is such a dangerous proposition in this wicket.
"The outfield is slow, so a score of 250 is cut down to 230. If we can manage 220, they would also have a few runs cut down by the slow outfield and we can cash in on it," he explained.
But all talk inevitably centered on the weather, which the Narail Express thinks is a circumstance the team has to face. "If the game is curtailed, we have to play accordingly. There's not much we can do about it," said Mashrafe.