MOMENTs
NO JUSTICE FOR KHALED
Test cricket must seem like an unfair arena for Bangladesh's debutant pacer Khaled Ahmed. In his second over he bowled a beautiful outswinger that had the Zimbabwe skipper Hamilton Masakadza edging a regulation catch to first slip. Potential joy turned into despair as Ariful Haque dove wildly from second slip and dropped the catch in front of a bemused Mithun.
Yesterday morning Khaled had another dropped off him [more on that below] and then continued striving without reward for the rest of the day, still awaiting his maiden wicket. His last burst was meant to be with the new ball in the evening session, but he was taken off after two overs and in the next over, Ariful was called to bowl his first over. In the last ball, the medium pacer trapped Peter Moor in front, breaking a 139-run partnership and bagging his maiden wicket. It says a lot about Khaled that he did not just walk off the field, shaking his head distractedly.
AND SOME OF THE POETIC VARIETY FOR TAIJUL
When you think of point fielders, you think of Jonty Rhodes, Herschelle Gibbs, Ricky Ponting... not Taijul Islam. Yet, even after dropping a catch in that position in the first Test, skipper Mahmudullah Riyad positioned the left-arm spinner at that position early on the third morning of the second Test yesterday. Sure enough, in the 30th over, Taijul dropped a difficult chance offered by Zimbabwe opener Brian Chari off the bowling of Khaled.
Near the end of the day however, in the 99th over of the innings, centurion Brendan Taylor went for a forceful sweep off Mehedi Hasan Miraz and did not middle the strike. It flew to the right of none other than Taijul at deep square leg, and he ran full pelt towards the ball before leaping, sunglasses flying off his cap, to take the ball at full stretch. It was an effort reminiscent of those illustrious names. Perhaps Mahmudullah knows something we don't?
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