Injuryhit B’desh eye winning start at new Test venue
Bangladesh are looking to boost their Test record in a twomatch series against Zimbabwe despite missing big names Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal.
Bangladesh have lost seven of their last eight Tests and failed to get past 200 runs in any of their last six innings.
They were skittled out for 43 in their first of two defeats in West Indies in July.
The world’s ninth-ranked Test team took a further hit with injuries to Tamim and captain Shakib, who underwent a finger operation in September.
Batsman Mohammad Mithun is likely to make his Test debut in the first match starting Saturday at the Sylhet International Stadium, which will be hosting its first five-day game.
“We did not do very well in West Indies. Still there is plenty of room to improve. We have home series against them (West Indies) ahead of us,” stand-in skipper Mahmudullah Riyad told reporters on Friday.
Zimbabwe skipper Hamilton Masakadza is also looking for better performances after a 3-0 loss in the ODI series in Bangladesh.
“We don’t play a lot of longerversion cricket. We really see the important value of it. We are looking to come out firing,” said Masakadza.
SYLHET:
Siddhesh Lad fell one run short of a century but Shivam Dube scored a quick 114 to help Mumbai cross the 400-run mark in their Elite Group A match of the Ranji Trophy against Railways here at the Karnail Singh Stadium on Friday. At stumps on Day 2, Railways were reeling at 115/6 in reply to Mumbai’s first innings score of 411.
Lad was dismissed in the eighth over of the morning session but Dube didn’t allow Railways to build on the momentum as he blazed 114 off just 139 deliveries. He stitched a vital 56-run seventh wicket partnership with Dhawal Kulkarni who scored a patient 22 off 56 deliveries.
Dube went on a rampage as he scored 13 boundaries and four sixes. Dube was the ninth wicket to fall at 407. Mumbai medium pacer Tushar Deshpande then combined with Dhawal Kulkarni to run through Railways top and middle order.
In Dehradun, Bihar were given a sound thrashing on their return to top flight cricket as Team Uttarakhand beat them by 10 wickets to scoop maximum points from their Plate Group match. Opener Karanveer Kaushal’s 91 and Saurabh Rawat’s 64 helped Uttarakhand reach 227 after Bihar were skittled out for just 60 in the first innings. In reply Bihar could muster only 169.
NEWDELHI: