Zimbabwe suffer further humiliation

Bangladesh A 69 for 2 (Imran 23*, Ireland 2-10) trail Zimbabwe 146 (Williams 63, Haque jnr 5-21) by 77 runs
Scorecard

Zimbabwe plumbed new depths on day one of their game against Bangladesh A at Mirpur when they subsided to 146 all out, mesmerised by the spin of Enamul Haque jnr.

By stumps, Bangladesh A had reached 69 for the loss of Javed Omar and Gaza Salahuddin. After their dismal performances in the recent one-dayers, Zimbabwe were looking to gain some confidence with a strong performance against weaker opposition, but things did not go to plan as they were ripped out in just 58.5 overs.

After they lost Tinashe Hove in the first over of the innings, the story of the day was the inability of the middle order to cope with Haque. Zimbabwe, who have lost 12 ODIs on the spin, lost four wickets for 15 runs in the middle of their innings, collapsing from 44 for 2 to 59 for 6. Only the strokeplay of Sean Williams and some defiance from the tail saved them from further embarrassment, with Haque finishing with 5 for 21 from 16.5 overs.

Zimbabwe needed to take early wickets, and a double breakthrough from Anthony Ireland gave them hope, but Rajin Saleh and Tushar Imran consolidated before the close to leave the visitors with a lot of work to do tomorrow.