The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Bangladesh favourite

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Thursday, Nov 30, 2006
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Bangladesh favourite

KHULNA (Bangladesh): Though favoured, Bangladesh will have its hands full against Zimbabwe when they meet on Thursday for the first of five limited-overs internationals, its captain said.

``Zimbabwe is now more disciplined, they play according to a plan,'' Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar told a news conference on Wednesday.

Bashar said although his side was the favourite, Bangladesh had to respect Zimbabwe and watch out for players like spinner Prosper Utseya. ``Our main target is to play match by match and win,'' said Bashar.

Bangladesh thrashed Zimbabwe by 122 runs in their last meeting at the ICC Champions Trophy in India in October. Bangladesh, however, lost a five-match limited-overs series 2-3 against Zimbabwe in Harare in July-August.

Zimbabwe captain Prosper Utseya said his spinners were getting used to subcontinental pitch conditions.

``We have done homework for the spinners,'' Utseya said. ``Bangladesh is a better side than us, but we will try to play our best cricket.''

Both sides were to announce a final lineup before start of play Thursday at the Bir Srestha Motiur Rahman Stadium in southwestern Khulna city.

Bangladesh won a Twenty20 match against Zimbabwe by 43 runs on Tuesday in Khulna. Zimbabwe earlier won a warm-up match by 26 runs. — AP

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