Slow going by A team

A half-century from Bangladesh A opener Liton Kumar was the only highlight on the rain-interrupted second day of their four-day match against Zimbabwe A at the Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium in Cox's Bazar yesterday.

Liton scored 54 as the home side finished the day on 162 for 3. The visitors bowled well on a slow wicket which compelled the batsmen to follow a cautious approach and as a result the hosts strolled along a run-rate of just 1.76. To slow things down further, the match was halted for two hours after lunch due to rain.

Continuing from an overnight score of 23, Liton reached his half-century in 97 balls in the morning session. He was however removed by slow left-armer Wellington Masakadza nine balls later. He hit six fours and batted for nearly two-and-a-half hours. After the 76-run opening stand was broken, Marshall Ayub joined Sadman Islam to put on 49 more runs. Sadman spent 225 minutes at the crease for his 40 and hit just two boundaries. He was eventually sent back by young leg-spinner Tinutenda Mutombodzi who had him caught after lunch.

Six overs later, Mutombodzi struck again as he removed Marshall in the 63rd over. At 125 for 3, there were fears of a collapse -- an aspect which was witnessed during Zimbabwe's innings who had earlier collapsed from 103 for 1 to 122 for 7 -- but, captain Naeem Islam and Rakibul Hasan ensured that there were no further hiccups.

Naeem faced 86 balls for his 17 while Rakibul scored 16 off 107 deliveries.

While selector Minhazul Abedin was content with the way the hosts played, he thought that they were 60 runs short.

"It was a good wicket to bat on. The only problem that the batsmen would have had to deal with was the slowness of the wicket. The ball did not come to the bat that easily. The Zimbabweans bowled well but at the same time we failed to dispatch a number of below-par deliveries.

"If we could have been at around the 220 or 230 runs today, it would have been a good finish. Anyway I hope we can take a 100-run lead by tea tomorrow," said Minhazul.

SCORES IN BRIEF

ZIMBABWE A: First innings 206 all out in 74.1 overs (Chakabva 64, Sibanda 62; Saqlain 9 for 82)

BANGLADESH A: First innings 162 for 3 in 92 overs (Liton 54, Sadman 40; Mutombodzi 2-27)