ZIMBABWE Senior Women Cricket team got off to a shaky start after going down to Bangladesh by eight wickets in the One Day International series opener played at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo today.
Uncharacteristic of them, the Lady Chevrons were bundled out for a measly 48 runs after being asked to bat first.
It took the Asian side only 23.2 overs to deal with the Zimbabwe batting line up whose only form of resistance was Precious Marange’s 17 runs from 30 balls at the middle order.
This was the only double-digit contribution from the whole squad as the batter struggled to post runs on the board.
Bangladesh slow left-arm orthodox Nahida Akter was unplayable, taking three wickets for just two runs in 5.2 overs.
Right arm off break Salma Khatun took three for six runs in seven overs while medium-pacer Jahanara Alam picked three for 18 in six overs.
Zimbabwe head coach Adam Chifo who uses a rotational system to give everyone in the squad a chance, especially those who did not play against Ireland, went with two debutants, Christabel Chatonzwa and Francisca Chipare.
In this encounter, there was no place for returning top order Sharne Mayers, but she will be assessed in the coming matches.
“Not a good day in the office indeed. I thought we didn’t apply ourselves with the bat and looked like we had no plan at all,” Chifo told EnterSportNews after the match.
“We gave away soft wickets earlier on, and that put a lot of pressure on everyone, and we found the going tough after our top four batters collapsed.”
The second match is scheduled for the same venue on Friday.
Journalist Percival Sizara was a centre umpire together with Stanley Gogwe.
