Sharif and Bashar ensure good start for Bangladesh

Bangladesh made a good and enthusiastic start to their Zimbabwean tour with a decisive seven-wicket victory over the CFX Academy team.

Mohammad Sharif and Habibul Bashar were their star performers of a day when they were more than equal to the best the opposition could produce.

They dismissed the Academy for 183 on a good batting pitch, with pace bowler Sharif turning in an impressive performance to take five wickets and also effect a run out, and then turned in a good, aggressive batting display to win with more than a third of the overs unbowled.

The match began in cloudy but dry weather at Alexandra Sports Club in Harare. The Academy won the toss and decided to bat on a good batting pitch.

The Academy lost their openers for 18 runs before Terry Duffin and Barney Rogers made a stand. The Bangladeshi pace-men were consistently accurate and nippy rather than genuinely quick, and the batsmen were forced to fight for survival. Rogers began to open up, sometimes riskily, when visiting captain Naimur Rahman brought himself on to bowl his off-breaks.

Rogers hit a breezy 46 before Sharif returned for a second spell and immediately had him caught in the covers; 102 for three in the 30th over. Duffin, batting less spectacularly but no less effectively, duly reached his 50 after struggling for runs in recent weeks, but was then brilliantly run out for 55 by a direct hit from Sharif at backward point to the bowler's end.

Guy Croxford (23) and Sean Ervine (31) briefly attempted to dominate the bowlers, but then Sharif returned to action, despite a painful collision with a metal fence in a vain attempt to save a boundary. He dismissed Ervine, skying a catch to midwicket, and then yorked Macmillan for nought.

Naimur Rahman took three wickets in quick succession, and the Academy were dismissed for 183 in the 49th over, their last five wickets falling for just seven runs. The two outstanding bowlers were Sharif with five for 30 and Naimur with three for 45.

Javed Omar and Al Sahariar opened confidently for Bangladesh, firm in defence and quick to put the bad ball away for powerfully-hit fours. Al Sahariar, who was Bangladesh's first century-maker in first-class cricket, twice came close to taking Campbell Macmillan's head off with powerful straight drives for four. The bowler finally took his revenge by bowling him with a yorker for 28, out of an opening stand of 45.

Apart from Macmillan in spurts, though, the bowling was undemanding. Habibul Bashar was in fine form from the start of his innings, driving and cutting powerfully for a series of boundaries. At one stage he was scoring off almost every ball; Javed, although overshadowed, played well until Butterworth took a fine overhead catch in the covers to dismiss him for 35. Habibul eventually fell to a catch on the midwicket boundary for 79 off 77 balls, including nine fours.

By this time the tourists were within sight of victory on 169 for three. Captain Naimur Rahman (11*) joined Test centurion Aminul Islam (20*) and took the tourists through to victory. Disturbingly, not one of the national players could be seen on the ground to assess their opponents for the international matches beginning on Saturday, which arouses suspicions of overconfidence. They would underestimate Bangladesh at their peril.