In their first Test match since September 2005, Zimbabwe rounded off a great win against Bangladesh today. After all the political troubles, player boycotts and retirements, it was good for cricket to see the African nation return to the five-day international scene almost six days after India gave them a drubbing in Harare, when Irfan Pathan took twelve wickets.
OK, so Bangladesh didn't exactly provide them with strong opposition, but the mainly young and inexperienced team acquitted themselves well on home territory. Four Zimbabweans made their Test debuts and the remaining seven commanded only about eighty caps between them. Wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu is a 'veteran' of 28 Tests, while spinner Ray Price, who impressed during the World Cup is, at 35, by far the oldest member of the side.
Put in to bat by Shakib, Zimbabwe made an excellent start. The top four batsmen all made runs, led by centurion Hamilton Masakadza and at one stage were 304-2. To Bangladesh's credit, they fought back to dismiss the home side for 370, but their batting was too inconsistent and debutant Brian Vitori took 4-66, He's so new he doesn't even have a photo on Cricinfo, but hopefully the 21 year-old's face will become better known soon! Zimbabwe added salt into the wounds by declaring and setting Bangladesh 375 to win, waiting until captain Brendan Taylor reached three figures for the first time. Seven years after his Test debut at 18, he's had to be patient, although he has notched more than a hundred ODIs and aggregated over 3000 runs. Another bowler making his first Test appearance, Kyle Jarvis also claimed four wickets as Bangladesh capitulated again, with the exception of a spirited T20-style onslaught from Abdur Razzak.
The winning margin was a healthy 130 runs. Healthy for Zimbabwe, that is. Things aren't looking too promising for Bangladesh, whose improvement over the past decade seems to have stalled and possibly even reversed. The African nation may have nobody of the calibre of Andy Flower, Heath Streak or Andy Blignaut but by forging multicultural team spirit, free of political control, they can start to build slowly in one- and five-day cricket. Masakadze, Taylor and Elton Chigumbura are useful players. The latter has demonstrated some talent at T20 and is a former Player of the week when at Northants last season. However, the all-rounder has disappointed in the longer formats and needs a few big innings and/or wicket hauls to make a mark at international level.
Next up for Zimbabwe are five ODIs against the same opposition, then a brief visit by Pakistan next month. They get to tour New Zealand for another one-off Test and a few ODIs and T20Is early next year to see how they get on away from home territory. If they can manage the occasional victory over these more established, if not world-leading teams, the confidence will do them a world of good. So they may be a million miles from challenging India, England and South Africa but a good showing in the next T20 World Cup or the proper 50-over tournament can only benefit world cricket.
