Zimbabwe v Bangladesh: 5th ODI – Match Preview
Zimbabwe will take on Bangladesh in the final One Day International (ODI) of the five-match series at the Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo in Zimbabwe on Sunday, August 21, 2011.
The hosts have already won the series by winning the first three ODIs of the series. They were eying a whitewash, but lost the fourth match. However, the African team will be hoping for a positive finish to their dominant campaign.
After being victorious in the lone Test match of the series, Zimbabwe would have expected a tough competition from the opposition in the limited-over cricket.
However, Bangladesh proved to be no match for the hosts in the first couple of games. This put the tourists under immense pressure and despite their fantastic fight back in the third ODI; the team lost the game and the series.
Things have changed for both teams now, as the outcome of the series has already been decided. There was immense pressure on both teams during the third match of the series, but things seemed to have eased out since then.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/BRM-Taylor-c1200 struck an impressive century in the fourth ODI, finding some form with the bat. The promising opener had struggled to perform with the bat in the first three games, but collected 106 runs in the last game.
However, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915 would have liked to be on the winning side after giving such a fabulous performance. His form will be important for the team in the upcoming game as well.
Taylor will expect some support from senior players like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/T-Taibu-c2630. All these players were unable to deliver in the fourth ODI, resulting in the team’s defeat.
It will be important to see whether what bowling combination Zimbabwe opts for in the final ODI. The team decided to rest their leading fast bowler http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Brian-Vitori-c1198, who has been the find of the series.
The left-arm bowler has the ability to become one of the best bowlers in cricket history, as he has the ability to swing the ball at decent pace. He might still be rested for the final game, as the Zimbabwean team will not want any injury to him prior to
the series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755.
However, there are still some very good bowlers in the home team’s line-up. They have decent pace bowlers like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/P-Utseya-c2145.
On the other hand, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 will be eying another win to end up the series on a higher note. The team struggled to perform throughout the tour, but managed to finally win one game at Bulawayo.
The tourists will be considering Bulawayo as a lucky venue for them, as their only win of the series came at the venue. They played all their games at Harare including the lone Test and first three ODIs.
Bangladesh’s skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shakib-Al-Hasan-c2492 will expect his batsmen to perform well like they did in the fourth ODI. The bowlers have been doing a decent job, but the batting has been miserable in the series.
A win in today’s game for Bangladesh will end the series as 3-2 in Zimbabwe’s favour. However, the result will be much better than 4-1 for the tourists.
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