Victory still possible - Shakib

The Khulna pitch was expected to aid Bangladesh's spinners but it seemed it had flattened out on the third day, just in time to negate the home team's strength. No wonder then that Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh's most successful bowler on the day with three wickets, thought the match was heading towards a draw unless Bangladesh found a way to clear a sequence of "difficult but not impossible" obstacles.

"It [victory] is also possible, but for that we have to take their remaining five wickets quickly, if possible in one hour," Shakib said. "It is a bit difficult. We also have to score quickly, which is another difficult thing, and then we have take their ten wickets, which is even tougher. All the tasks are difficult but not impossible, if we can do something like this we can win the game."

It was a tactful answer, aimed at not dismissing totally the expectation of a win while more or less stating the expected result. Shakib had used his experience to remain disciplined with the ball but, in demanding conditions, he saw his younger spin partners wither. Both Taijul Islam and Jubair Hossain erred as the day got longer for them. He probably also had in mind the last Test played in Khulna, in which he had scored 97 off 117 balls on the fourth day against a trickier West Indies attack.

But Bangladesh were also been guilty of letting the game drift. On a day on which it was difficult to create chances, two catches were spilled by Shamsur Rahman at first slip while Mushfiqur Rahim missed a stumping. The beneficiaries were Hamilton Masakadza and Regis Chakabva, who had added an unbeaten 142 runs for the fifth wicket by the end of the day. There were a number of misfields too.

"Fielding is crucial for a match of this kind, it is important to take the catches and half chances on this kind of pitch," Shakib said. "We could not take one or two chances, which became costly for us. But it can happen I cricket. Next time when we get the opportunity we have to be careful so that we can take that."

With Zimbabwe only 102 behind Bangladesh's score, Shakib also reflected on Bangladesh's batting on the opening day, when they scored 193 for 3 in 90 overs. "It would have been better if we had few more runs on the first day," he said. "If you lose three or two wickets on the first day usually you don't see this few runs. At least you get 250 runs. If you see Test cricket for last seven-eight years, 250 runs is common on the first day, still batsmen felt difficulties. Those who batted, they said it was difficult for playing shots. Zimbabwe also had a defensive field set-up. So it was not easy to score runs."

Both Shakib and Tamim Iqbal did use that as a platform on the second day, scoring briskly in the first session. At 305 for 3, Bangladesh would have aimed for a total in excess of 500 but they let the advantage slip again, losing wickets at regular intervals. Shakib was the sixth wicket to fall after he missed a wild slog and the rest could only add 57 more runs before being bowled out for 433. Shakib was however satisfied with a century in his comeback series.

"I could not score runs in the first Test," he said. "It's natural when you play after so many days, scoring seems difficult. Bowling is fine because you get many opportunities. But batting is a different ball game, naturally it is tough.

"I did not expect to get back into runs so quickly. I thought it will take two or three innings more because I am playing Tests after eight to 10 months. It takes time to adapt your brain to a Test-match situation."

Shakib may have got his century and his wickets, but the team as a whole have been tested in the series by Zimbabwe. Before the start of the series, Bangladesh would have been more confident of sneaking out a result from the current situation in this Test. Not anymore. "At this moment, I think we are heading towards a draw," Shakib concluded.