Bowlers take the stage

                                   Bowlers take the stage

Rubel Hossain bowled their hearts out on the opening day of the first Test at Harare yesterday. However, both Bangladesh pacers were denied their fair share of success by some sloppy fielding and a glaring error of judgement. PHOTOS: AFP

With the batsmen enjoying unprecedented success on the tour of Sri Lanka, the focus had shifted to the bowlers and the fielders ahead of the Zimbabwe Tests. A spate of injuries to Bangladesh’s bowling stocks, and a series of dropped chances in Sri Lanka justify concerns over whether a weakened fielding outfit can take 20 wickets on the Tigers’ current tour of Zimbabwe.
Perhaps the weakness was on skipper Mushfiqur Rahim’s mind when he won the toss and chose to field, trying to give his pace attack as much advantage as possible out of a pitch that had a tinge of green. What followed was a case of ‘morning shows the day’. In the very first over, Robiul Islam, after bowling five good-length deliveries, surprised Zimbabwe debutant Timycen Maruma with a lifter on off stump which the rookie edged straight to first slip, only for Shahriar Nafees to drop a sitter.
 

Robiul, hugely impressive in the first session, took the early mishap in his stride and continued bowling an incisive line outside off stump while generating appreciable away movement. He soon had his reward, uprooting Vusi Sibanda’s middle stump with a screaming yorker, before trapping the debutant in front to have Zimbabwe reeling at 22 for two.

Robiul Islam bowled their hearts out on the opening day of the first Test at Harare yesterday. However, both Bangladesh pacers were denied their fair share of success by some sloppy fielding and a glaring error of judgement. PHOTOS: AFP

The pace bowlers were highly effective in the first session, with Robiul especially looking like taking a wicket every time he ran in to bowl while Rubel Hossain kept up the pressure with unerring accuracy. The result was that Zimbabwe could only score 50. Bangladesh’s own ‘Mr. Cricket’ Nasir Hossain, who is better known as an off-spinner,  also bowled an impressive, disciplined spell of medium pace to keep the pressure on. But fielding lapses cost the Tigers, who could have been in a much stronger position at the end of the day had Nafees and Mohammad Ashraful not combined to drop three chances.
 

Nafees dropped eventual centurion Brendan Taylor when he was on 35 as the Zimbabwe skipper had a rare rush of blood against Enamul Haque Jr, hitting the ball in the air to the left of Nafees at long off. Nafees got to it but could not hold on. Even his earlier drop, which may not seem to have caused much damage as Maruma was out after adding just 10, was in fact costly. As Rubel’s strike late in the day with the second new ball to remove Malcolm Waller proved, it is imperative that the pacers get every little benefit while the shine stays. If that catch was taken, there was a chance of Taylor coming in earlier, which would have exposed Zimbabwe’s best player to the moving ball while he was still vulnerable.
Waller was dropped when on 21, by Ashraful who spilled a looping, low chance off Enamul Haque Jr at point. That drop proved costly too as Waller formed a 127-run fourth wicket partnership with his skipper.
 

The bowlers bowled admirably on the first day, sticking to their lines even as Taylor played a classy hand. But as has happened so often in the past, the fielders failed to support their colleagues which saw Bangladesh finish on even terms with the hosts, instead of in the ascendancy. The old malaise remains, and it is one that Bangladesh will have to manage well if they are to register their first win in Harare.