Andy Flower, Wishart pound Bangladesh

CHITTAGONG, NOV. 16. Craig Wishart and Andy Flower smashed identical centuries as Zimbabwe took charge of the second cricket Test against Bangladesh here on Friday.

Wishart hit a strokeful 114 and left-handed Andy Flower remained unbeaten on the same score to lift Zimbabwe to 542 for seven declared in its first innings at the Aziz Stadium.

Bangladesh finished the second day's play on 57 for one, with opener Al Shariar (25) and Habibul Bashar (21) surviving till close after the early dismissal of Javed Omar.

The agony piled up for the host as Andy Flower and Wishart joined Trevor Gripper with three-figure knocks in the innings.

Wishart's maiden Test century came with the help of 12 boundaries and two sixes. Luck finally favoured the 27-year-old after he had fallen for 94 in the first Test at Dhaka last week and 93 against the West Indies at Harare earlier this year.

There were no hiccups this time as Wishart raced to the three- figure mark with a push to long on off left-arm spinner Enamul Haq.

When Wishart fell to young leg-spinner Mohammad Ashraful, the prolific Andy Flower took over. Flower hit 11 fours in his 12th Test century, which came with his trademark reverse- sweep off part-time spinner Aminul Islam.

Douglas Marillier was the other notable contributor in the Zimbabwe innings, getting 52 off 93 balls. Zimbabwe has three days to force a win after being denied victory in the first Test when the last two days were washed out.

- AFP

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