Wickets fall en masse

A topsy-turvy Day 3 at the Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium -- which witnessed 18 wickets fall -- saw both Bangladesh A and their Zimbabwe counterparts get bundled out yesterday. The hosts, who finished the day on 43 for 1, now need to score 61 more runs in their second innings on the final day to win the first of two four-day encounters.

With an overnight score of 162 for 3, the hosts were expected to amble past Zimbabwe A's first innings total of 206 on the day. Instead what took place was a batting ruckus on a slow and low wicket which assisted the spinners and eventually they were bowled out for 211.

The second-stringed Bangladesh side lost their last seven wickets for just 17 runs. Wellington Masakadza and leg-spinner Tinotenda Mutombodzi were the chief destroyers as the duo took all 10 wickets. Masakadza finished on 6 for 63 while Mutombodzi took for 4 for 38.

In trouble, the hosts needed to fire under pressure and that's exactly what they did. With spin playing such an important role in this four-dayer, Bangladesh's Saqlain Sajib and Zubair Hossain played their part with their own brand of spin.

Saqlain took six wickets giving away 50 runs while young leg-spinner Zubair finished with figures of 4 for 18. Saqlain removed both openers in the first two overs and Zubair removed the next two batsmen and suddenly the visitors found themselves in a precarious 65 for 4 from where they failed to recover.

Saqlain's six-wicket haul took his match tally to 15 for 132, beating Abdur Razzak's 15 for 193 -- which were the previous best in first-class cricket in Bangladesh.

In pursuit of 104 to win, the hosts lost Sadman Islam early. Liton Kumar (27) and Marshall Ayub (10) steadied the innings with a 22-run stand for the second wicket.

SCORES IN BRIEF

ZIMBABWE A: 205 and 108 all out in 48.2 overs (Chari 23, Sibanda 19; Saqlain 6-50, Zubair 4-18)

BANGLADESH A: 211 all out in 120.4 overs (Liton 54, Rakibul 43; Masakadza 6-63, Mutombodzi 4-38) and 43 for 1 (Liton 27; Masakadza 1-27)