Bangladesh aim for draw

CHITTAGONG: Bangladesh’s new cricket captain is determined to stop his team’s losing streak and at least try to force a draw in the first match of the two-Test home series against South Africa.

The First Test match between Bangladesh and South Africa starts today at Chittagong’s MA Aziz Stadium. The Second Test will be played in the capital, Dhaka, from May 1. “We are not dreaming about winning the match, but we can certainly try to achieve a draw,” skipper Khaled Mahmud said yesterday. Bangladesh lost their two Test matches — both by an innings — during a tour of South Africa last year. Mahmud, an all-rounder, said his team will expect “better conviction and performance” from their batsmen, who have persistently failed. Spinners, he said, are expected to do better. “Our first target is to bat full session and to score at least 300-350 runs,” said Mahmud. “Though South Africa is the stronger team, they will find it difficult in these conditions,” said Mahmud after a practice session yesterday.

The pitch at the MA Aziz Stadium has a lot of turn and is likely to favour spinners, according to ground experts. South Africa, also led by a new captain — left-handed batsman Graeme Smith — arrived on Wednesday and went straight to the field for practice. “The condition here is very difficult and unfamiliar for South Africans,” said Smith after net practice in hot, humid weather. “We got some positive performance from the one-day series. As captain, I was nervous at the start of the one-day series, but this time everything is OK,” said Smith, 22. South Africa and India became the joint winners of a tri-nation limited overs series on Monday, after rain washed out the final match on two consecutive days. The series, which also featured Bangladesh, was held in Dhaka on April 11-21. Umpires Steve Bucknor of West Indies and Billy Bowden of New Zealand, who will conduct the Test series, also arrived yesterday in Chittagong, a port city 215 kilometres (135 miles) south of capital, Dhaka.

Bangladesh have lost 15 of the 16 Tests they have played since becoming the newest Test-playing nation in 2000. They only managed to draw one Test, against Zimbabwe, because of rain. They have also failed to win any of their 35 limited-overs matches in the past few years. Mahmud took over as the captain after the team’s dismal World Cup performance earlier this year. He replaced Khaled Masud who stepped down as captain and has been dropped for the Test series. Smith, South Africa’s youngest ever captain, also gained the captaincy from Shaun Pollock following the World Cup.

Bangladesh — (from): Khaled Mahmud (captain), Mehrab Hossain, Mohammad Ashraful, Javed Omar, Habibul Bashar, Akram Khan, Sanwar Hossain, Mohammad Selim, Alok Kapali, Mohammad Rafique, Tapas Baishya, Manjural Islam, Mashrafee-bin-Murtaza and Enamul Haq.

South Africa — (from): Graeme Smith (captain), Mark Boucher, Hershelle Gibbs, Boeta Dippenaar, Shaun Pollock, Neil McKenzie, Paul Adams, Allan Dawson, Andrew Hall, Makhaya Ntini, Robin Peterson, Jacques Rudolph, Charl Willoughby.