ZIMBABWE Wins the FIrst!!!!!!!!!!

by Mad max Sat 13 Aug 2011, 9:37 pm

Vitori and Sibanda sink Bangladesh

Despite a late wobble, Zimbabwe chased a below-par total with relative
ease after Brian Vitori sliced through the Bangladesh top order to
become the first Zimbabwe bowler to take five wickets on ODI debut. The
chase was anchored by a mature innings from Vusi Sibanda, who coped
easily with Bangladesh's arsenal of left-arm spinners and made sure that
the late strikes from Rubel Hossain were in vain.

Bangladesh's bowlers were inconsistent early on and they posed little
threat to the Zimbabwe batsmen, in contrast to the way Zimbabwe's
bowlers had executed their plans when the visitors batted. Led by
debutant left-arm seamer Vitori, Zimbabwe restricted Bangladesh to 184
on a flat pitch. Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim put on a century
partnership for the sixth-wicket to resuscitate the innings, which stood
on the brink of implosion at 43 for 5 in the 17th over, but it did not
do enough to post a defendable total.

With Chris Mpofu, Vitori made exceptional use of the early bounce on
offer and bowled a tight line, offering no width to the Bangladesh
batsmen. That forced them to be circumspect in their approach, refusing
to move their feet or look for singles, and they made a slow start to
their innings.

After two overs of teasing swing, Vitori offered Tamim Iqbal a short
ball and the Bangladesh opener took the bait with a horribly timed pull
that was safely taken by Elton Chigumbura at mid-on. Vitori bowled an
extended eight-over spell and earned regular reward. Shahriar Nafees was
bowled with a delivery that pitched on middle and uprooted leg stump as
he tried to drive down the ground. Mohammad Ashraful and Imrul Kayes
departed in the 14th over. Ashraful took out his frustration on a short
ball that went straight to Mpofu at long leg and Kayes was trapped lbw
with a full delivery that came into him and thudded into the front pad.

Bangladesh continued in free-fall and even Chigumbura, who was the least
threatening of the bowlers, picked up a wicket, when Mahmudullah
slapped a full and wide delivery to backward point. With the change
bowlers on, Bangladesh were allowed to relax and Shakib and Mushfiqur
approached their innings as their team-mates should have. They rotated
the strike well and took on the spin pair of Propser Utseya and Ray
Price, making good use of the sweep shot.

Shakib should have been stumped on 17, when he danced down the track to
an Utseya delivery but Tatenda Taibu was not able to get the bails off
in time. He capitalised on his lifeline and continued scoring at a good
rate all around the wicket to notch up his half century. Mushfiqur
provided solid support, puncturing the gaps in a spread field.

The pair gathered runs at will and medium-pacer Hamilton Masakadza was
brought on in the 36th over to break the partnership. Three overs later
he removed Shakib, who tried to force one through the covers but could
only pop it up to Utseya.

ZIMBABWE Wins the FIrst!!!!!!!!!! 135964.2

ZIMBABWE Wins the FIrst!!!!!!!!!! 135964.2

Vusi Sibanda anchored Zimbabwe's chase and was unlucky to miss out on his hundred

With Shakib gone, Mushfiqur tried to accelerate but fell in his first
attempt, giving Utseya his 100th ODI wicket. The tail was disposed off
cheaply, giving Zimbabwe's batsmen a fairly simple task on a pitch that
got better for batting.

Zimbabwe set off at a canter, dealing with the first three overs of seam
bowling with disdain, before the spinners - Abdur Razzak and Shakib -
came on. Shakib had success with his second delivery, bowling his
opposite number, Brendan Taylor, with an arm ball that snuck between bat
and pad.

The left-arm spin didn't frighten Sibanda, who played with
characteristically nifty footwork and struck two straight drives in the
next over. That prompted Shakib to make a third bowling change and bring
on Suhrawadi Shuvo inside 10 overs.

Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza settled comfortably, ran well between the
wickets and scored at a rapid rate, dealing with everyone from Shakib
to Mahmudullah with ease. They looked set to take Zimbabwe home with
minimal fuss but a little indifference crept in and Masakadza was run
out. He hesitated for a single that his partner was unsure of, and by
the time Masakadza stopped, he was halfway down the pitch and could not
make it back in time.

That opened the door for Bangladesh to strike back and Rubel stepped up.
He was brought back on after just one over upfront and, with the ball
just starting to reverse swing, took two wickets in two balls. Taibu was
bowled by a ripper that swung into him and Craig Ervine got a fine edge
through to Mushfiqur.

Bangladesh showed the right intent by taking the bowling Powerplay but
could not prise open the door any further. Sibanda and Forster Mutizwa
consolidated, even though Mutizwa looked uncomfortable against the spin
at first and Sibanda failed to control the pull off Rubel.

Sibanda's strength against left-arm spin propelled him towards a century
as he struck a straight six off Shuvo, but he threw his hundred away
with a hurried stroke that looped straight to square leg when he was on
96. That left Mutizwa and Chigumbura with 10 runs and ample time to win
the match, and although Chigumbura was out before it was over, a
measured Mutizwa took Zimbabwe home.