Zim's practice ends in draw

The bowling attack which Zimbabwe faced in the drawn three-day practice match at Fatullah was not challenging enough for their batsmen to prepare for the three-match Test series against the home team. Bangladesh are expected to rely heavily on their slow bowlers to maximise the home advantage from the pitch in the upcoming series.

Nevertheless, match practice always helps a team to accustom with the conditions and in this drawn contest, which is their opening and also the lone game before the Tests, the visitors scored some runs.

After the match Zimbabwe skipper Brandan Taylor said he was disappointed with their batting in the first innings, but also added that his batsmen showed character in the second, where Craig Ervine hit an unbeaten 85 after the home side was bowled out for 297.

Ervine, who hasn't played a Test match since March last year, hammered eleven fours and four sixes in his 98-ball knock while Sikandar Raza made 45 with eight fours as Hamilton Masakadza added 31 and Vusimuzi Sibanda 22.

The reality however was that the home side's think-tank offered the visitors a weak BCB XI team and allowed the occasional bowlers to bowl, seemingly without any purpose.

From the local side, three players -- Shamsur Rahman, Marshall Ayub and Shuvagoto Hom -- are in the squad for the first Test and scored some runs which may help them in the upcoming series. Shuvagoto hit 75 runs which included nine fours in the 176-ball innings.

Shuvagoto, who made Test debut in Bangladesh's last series in the West Indies, believes that this kind of score can help them to get back the confidence and it was needed for them though he believes the Tests will be a different ball game. He was also unperturbed with the batsmen's failures to turn their half-centuries into larger scores.

SCORES IN BRIEF

ZIMBABWE: 241 and 201 for 5 (Ervine 85 not out, Sikandar 45; Sabbir 2-17)

BCB XI: 297 (Shuvagoto 75 not out, Shamsur 69, Rony 46, Marshall 31; M'shanwge 4-109)

Result: Match drawn.