By Kevin Mapasure
Bangladesh 276 for 9 (Das 102, Hossain 45, Jongwe 3-51) beat Zimbabwe 121 all out (Chakabva 54, Shakib 5-30, Taskin 1-22) by 155 runs
ALARM bells have started to toll loudly for Zimbabwe national cricket team coach Lalchand Rajput as doubts over his pedigree to take Zimbabwe to the 2023 World Cup finals emerge.
Like national football team coach Zdravco Logarušić who is under fire for his dismal performance at the ongoing Cosafa Cup, Rajput is taking his place in the spotlight, especially after Zimbabwe were thrashed by 155 runs on home soil in a crucial one-day international (ODI) match against Bangladesh yesterday.
The match is one of three in this series and all carry weight towards the World Cup qualification.
It was yet another disappointing show by the team, who failed to capitalise on early inroads with the ball after Brendan Taylor, playing his 200th ODI for Zimbabwe, had won the toss.
They had Bangladesh at 38 for 2 after 10 overs, but the tourists managed to put 276 on the board in their alloted 50 overs.
Seamers Luke Jongwe (3 for 51), Blessing Muzarabani (2 for 47), Richard Ngarava (2 for 61) and Tendai Chatara (1 for 49) were all among the wickets.
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In response, Zimbabwe made a feeble attempt at reaching the victory target of 277 with only Regis Chakabva making a half century.
Only three batsmen reached double figures with Taylor losing his wicket to Shakib Al Hasan for 24, who claimed a fiver for his side, as well as debutant Dion Myers who scored 18.
Like Bangladesh, Zimbabwe lost two early wickets after openers Tadiwanashe Marumani (0) and Wesley Madhevere (9) were both castled by Mohammad Saifuddin and Taskin Ahmed respectively.
Zimbabwe struggled to form meaningful partnerships from there on as they lost wickets in pairs.
They collapsed from 74 for 3 to 121 all out in a space 14.4 overs.
In the end, it was a disappointing show with the bat for Zimbabwe and Taylor expressed his displeasure.
“It was not how I would have wanted to celebrate my milestone. I will keep going, the body is fine and I still love the game. Today, the difference was how the two teams reacted to tough moments. We failed to make the most of our early inroads. Guys need to be stronger and going to the next match, we need a small tweak. We will certainly be better on Sunday,” Taylor said.
Zimbabwe will certainly need to do better tomorrow to try and take their coach off the spotlight as murmurs about him are starting to amplify.
The team will need a win to keep the series alive and more importantly pick up points in the Super League to stand a chance of an automatic qualification to the World Cup in India.
After Zimbabwe lost the ODI series 2-1 and the Test series 2-0 against Pakistan, Rajput said the team had learnt their lesson, but after the Test match battering and yesterday’s defeat they do not look one bit better schooled.
Zimbabwe were, however, without key batsmen Sikandar Raza, coming in from a long injury layoff, as well as Sean Williams and Craig Ervine, who were both infected by COVID-19, but that will not take Rajput out of the firing line.
- Follow Kevin on Twitter @KevinMapasure
