Spinners take control of the new ball in Bangladesh

The opening match of the tri-series between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe commenced on Monday at Shere Bangla Stadium in Dhaka. The contest began amidst foggy conditions as the pacers were expected to find some movement off the pitch. But what transpired later surprised everyone as Shakib Al Hasan and Sunzamul Islam, both left-arm spinners, took the new ball in their hands from both the ends. This was only the second instance in the history of the ODIs when the tweakers took the new cherry.

The first time when the same incident happened was surprisingly in Hamilton during the bilateral series between New Zealand and South Africa. Jeetan Patel and Mitchell Santner opened the bowling from both the ends last year in the month of March. The move paid dividends for the Kiwis as well with the off-spinner Patel snaffling Quinton de Kock for a duck in the very first over of the game.

Shakib breaks through twice

Even in the ongoing match between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, the move of opening with the spinners reaped rich rewards. The veteran Shakib scalped a couple in the first over itself leaving the visitors reeling two down with only a solitary run on the board. Soloman Mire was stumped off the wide-ball smartly after which Craig Ervine presented a dolly to the short mid-wicket fielder.

Zimbabwe is still recovering from the early blows as they lost the experienced Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor in the process as well. Currently, Sikandar Raza and Malcolm Waller are in the middle resurrecting the innings for their side. The bowlers, on the other hand, have looked absolutely menacing as the pitch is also assisting them. The team in red have to post a competitive total on the board to have any chance of defeating the strong home side.

Bangladesh would love to make more inroads and bundle them out for a paltry total eventually winning the opening game of the tri-series.

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