Zimbabwe eyeing rare win
Among all the hand-wringing about the Bangladesh's inept batting in the first innings, Zimbabwe -- who came into the match not having played a Test since December 2017 -- have quietly moved into a winning position.
Bangladesh ended the third day of the first Test in Sylhet needing a further 295 runs to achieve their highest successful chase of 321. Although they had all their wickets intact, Zimbabwe coach Lalchand Rajput thought that their first win since September 2013 -- against Pakistan -- was on the cards.
"It's always difficult to chase a total on the fourth day especially, and the last ball [a sharp turner from Sikandar Raza that rapped Bangladesh opener Liton Das's pad] was very encouraging," said Rajput during the post-day press conference. "So hopefully we try and bowl well tomorrow morning, and we've got to take the catches. As you know, catches win matches because there will be a lot of catchers around the bat. So hopefully we have a good fielding and bowling session tomorrow.
"We will have a combination of medium pace and spinners, but the bulk of the bowling will be done by the spinners, because we've seen that the wicket is helping the spinners," he added. "In the first innings, the seamers bowled really well, so we were hoping that we would get one or two wickets with the new ball. There will be more emphasis on the spinners and hopefully the spinners will oblige."
Zimbabwe last won a Test against Bangladesh in April 2013 and they have not won a Test in Bangladesh since November 2001, so it will be a historic event for the visitors, especially given all the turmoil in the cricketing setup back home. It is Rajput's first Test assignment, having been brought in this year after a Heath Streak-led staff was sacked following their failure to qualify for the 2019 World Cup.
“If you play more Tests, you come into these situations more often and you're mentally well prepared as well. We had a very good start to this Test match, still a couple of days to go. But I think they should play more and more Test matches, because Test matches show a lot of character and temperament, and are the real test of a cricketer."
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