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According to CricInfo, Zimbabwe will tour Bangladesh in early 2009, in a visit arranged outside the Future Tours Programme. The tour will consist of both ODIs and first-class matches.

The tour appears on ZC's outline schedule for the 2008/09 season, which also includes two series against Sri Lanka (at home in 2008, and in Sri Lanka during 2009) and a home series against New Zealand - although that will be subject to the NZ government not taking action to prevent it. Noticeable by its absence is any mention of the visit to Kenya which had been expected to take place before the end of the year, with ZC clearly running scared of being beaten by the "weaker" African side.
CricInfo - Zimbabwe unveil preparations for 2008-09

The ICC have announced the groupings for the 2009 World Twenty20 tournament, to be held in England. The groups have been based on the results of the 2007 edition, and on paper Zimbabwe (seeded 9) seem to have been handed a reasonable draw, taking part in Group A alongside current champions India (seeded 1) and Bangladesh (seeded 8 ). Groups have been announced this early to allow the ECB to begin the scheduling process.
CricInfo - Groupings for World Twenty20 2009 fixed

The final match of the group stage was a stop-start affair, thanks to plenty of rain in Port of Spain, and was eventually reduced to a 21-overs per side slogfest. Bangladesh won the toss and elected to field, knowing that a win would secure their own place in the Super Eight and secure an early flight home for the Indians, and within the first over the wickets began to fall. Dean Minors top-scored for Bermuda with 23, as their usual mainstay David Hemp went for a 4th-ball duck. To their credit, Bermuda's final total of 94/9 was reasonable in the conditions, and when Saleem Mukuddem secured 3 early wickets it looked like the upset may have been on the cards. The arrival of Mohammad Ashraful at the crease signalled the end of the Bermudan dream, though, and Ashraful and Saqibul Hasan steading the Bangladeshi innings and saw their side home.
Bangladesh beat Bermuda by 7 wickets (D/L method)

Pakistan v Zimbabwe is dealt with elsewhere. The other match of the day was Sri Lanka v Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka were on the sort of form that has to mark them out as contenders for this year's title, as they powered their way to a 198-run win. Batting first, Sanath Jayasuriya's 109 led the charge for Sri Lanka against a Bangaldesh bowling attack that seemed toothless - especially compared to their display against India. Sri Lanka ran up 318/5 from their overs, while Bangladesh ran into early trouble in their innings with wickets dropped regularly and often - only 3 players hit double figures. A rain delay didn't save them, either - just gave them a 4-over reduction to the torture, as they were bowled out for just 112 in 37 overs. The result leaves Group B wide open, with it looking very possible that India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka could each finish on 4 points, leaving Net Run Rate to decide who goes through to the Super Eight.
Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by 93 runs (D/L method)
Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 198 runs (D/L method)

Next up: Netherlands v Scotland in Group A, and Canada v New Zealand an Group C.

Welcome to Upset Saturday, as Bangladesh and Ireland overturned the form books - and in the process dumped former World Cup champions Pakistan out of the competition.

First up, Bangladesh's win over India. Perhaps it's all those matches against Zimbabwe, perhaps not, but Bangladesh have been a side on the up for a while now, and India appear to have been caught napping. After choosing to bat on a bowler-friendly surface, India faced a discplined and controlled bowling attack from the Bangladeshis and found themselves unable to cope. Bangladesh, meanwhile, exhibited patience when their turn with the bat came around, and comfortably reached the required total with only a few minor scares along the way. This "upset" wasn't entirely unexpected - reports ahead of the game had pointed out Bangladesh's recent improvement and had the match marked as a possible upset. The writers of those reports got what they wanted, and India now need to make sure they don't slip up against Bermuda or Sri Lanka if they're to proceed.

If Bangladesh's performance didn't really surprise, though, Ireland's did. While the other Associates have been torn apart by the Full Member sides, Ireland came into this game fresh from their tie with Zimbabwe and with a real nothing-to-lose attitude. Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, writing in a CricInfo article ahead of the match, had used Ireland as an example of where the ICC's High Performance programme was working, and called them a "banana-skin side" - shame he doesn't appear to have told his team. Needing a win to stay in the competition after losing to the West Indies, Pakistan failed to cope with the Irish bowlers on another bowler-friendly track at Sabina Park. When "Extras" is your second-highest scorer, you know that something's wrong, and even Pakistan's big guns - Inzamam, Younis Kahan and Mohammad Yousuf, who managed just 16 runs between them - were left wondering what hit them, as Pakistan collapsed to 132. Ireland suffered some wobbles in reply, being 2/15 at one point and losing 3 wickets for 5 runs later in the innings, but composed displays by the O'Brien brothers provided an anchor for the innings and helped see the Irish home with more than six overs to spare. It also gives Ireland a real shot of reaching the Super Eight, if Zimbabwe lose their two remaining matches. Well done to the Irish on St Patrick's Day, and raspberries to those who doubted the ability of the Associate sides to make an impact on the tournament.
Bangladesh beat India by 5 wickets
Ireland beat Pakistan by 3 wickets

Next up: England v Canada in Group C, and Australia v Netherlands in Group A.

Apart from the Zimbabwe v Bermuda match, covered elsewhere, there were three other warm-up matched yesterday, all featuring the sides seeded 9-16: Ireland v Canada, Bangladesh v Scotland, and Kenya v Netherlands. All three went according to the seedings, so no surprises this time around.

Bangaladesh contained Scotland's scoring during the first innings and left themselves with a total of just 152 to chase, and with Habibul Bashar and Mohammad Ashraful both in good form the chase was over within 35 overs. Ireland trounced Canada after bowling them out for just 116 - Dave Langford-Smith picking up 4 wickets along the way. Ireland's bowling form has improved greatly during the warm-up games, and they'll now be seen as the best of the 5 sides who qualified through the ICC Trophy - and from a Zimbabwean point of view, that's quite worrying. Kenya maintained their winning record with a close 9-run win over Netherlands - three Dutch batsmen hit half-centuries to leave their side looking on-course for an upset, but their innings collapsed after the run-out of Ryan ten Doeschate.
Bangladesh beat Scotland by 7 wickets
Ireland beat Canada by 7 wickets
Kenya beat Netherlands by 9 runs

Three other warm-up matches yesterday, apart from the Australia - Zimbabwe clash which I've covered separately. Bangladesh pulled off the first upset of the tournament by beating New Zealand (fresh from giving the Aussies a hammering) by 2 wickets, with Mashrafe Mortaza (4/44 and 30*) being key to the Tigers' performance. Maybe all those ODIs against Zimbabwe have been good practice, and here's hoping Bangladesh can carry on performing once the group stage starts.

Elsewhere, the matches went according to the script. India easily saw off the Dutch challenge, after posting 300 from their 50 overs & bundling the Netherlands out within 38 overs, while Pakistan likewise had few problems dealing with Canada.
Bangladesh beat New Zealand by 2 wickets
Pakistan beat Canada by 77 runs
India beat Netherlands by 182 runs

The next round of warm-up matches begins on Thursday, with four matches featuring the teams seeded 9-16 in the competition: Bermuda v Zimbabwe, Canada v Ireland, Bangladesh v Scotland and Kenya v Netherlands.

With the series win already out of the question, the 4th ODI was a matter of pride for Zimbabwe - especially after having handed the 3rd match on a platter to Bangladesh and lost the first primarily through an apparent lack of interest in chasing Bangladesh's total. Bangladesh won the toss and elected to field - which at least removed the uncertainties of a runchase from the worries of Zimbabwe's batsmen. Early wickets, in the forms of Duffin and Sibanda, left Zim wobbling as ever on 22/2, but Chibhabha and Williams settled into the crease well and began the job of building a respectable total. Both reached their half-centuries before falling, although at a slower-than-ideal rate which left a little work for those who came after them to do. Elton Chigumbura was the only other batsman to really make an impression, with a quick and useful 77 not-out, but as ever the lower order wasn't much use, contributing only two runouts and nothing in double-figures. Zimbabwe finished with a reasonable 244/8 from their 50 overs, a target Bangaldesh would have been happy enough to try and chase.

When Shahriar Nafees fell in the 2nd over for a duck, though, home fans would have begun to hope for a series-levelling win, and when Mushfiqur Rahim, Saqibul Hasan and Tushar Imran fell in the space of 7 runs mid-innings, things were looking up. Aftab Ahmed's 92 (from 81 balls) earlier in the Bangladesh innings had left Zimbabwe really needing to bowl the Tigers out to be sure of victory, though - and that, they just failed to do. Bangladesh passed the target score in the 48th over, with just one wicket to spare - and that was the end of that.

There wasn't a game in this series that Zimbabwe couldn't have won, which in one way is a hopefull sign and in another a damning indication (more on that later). They didn't take their chances, though, and the result is a 3-1 away win from Bangladesh and time for Zimbabwe to rue their wasted opportunities. Check below the cut for the scorecard.
Zimbabwe 244/8 (50 overs; Chibhabha 54, Williams 51, Mortaza 3/52), Bangladesh 246/9 (47.2 overs; Aftab Ahmed 92, Mpofu 3/52). Bangladesh win by 1 wicket, win series 3-1.

Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to field at the start of the 3rd ODI in Harare on Friday. After their comprehensive win in the second match, Zim would have been looking to continue on a positive note, and when Tamim Iqbal and Aftab Ahmed fell in the early overs the leave Bangladesh looking wobbly at 2/10, you could have been forgiven for being hopeful. Led by 69 from Shahriar Nafees and some unimpressive Zimbabwean bowling, though, the Tigers steadied and were able to bat out their innings for a respectable 228/9 - respectable, but still not out of Zimbabwe's reach.

The Zimbabwean innings got off to a decent start, too, thanks to an opening stand of 93 between Terrence Duffin and Vusi Sibanda. The arrival of the middle order marked the beginning of Zimbabwe's problems, though, as while they kept in the vicinity of the required run rate they were also losing wickets far too frequently, including two messy & unnecessary runouts. The final 3 wickets fell for just 10 runs, leaving Zim 14 runs short in a game which they should have won, and with the possibility of a morale-boosting series win gone.

Check below the cut for the full scorecard. The final match in the series - and Zimbabwe's last chance to salvage some pride - is on Saturday.
Bangladesh 228/9 (50 overs; Shahriar Nafees 69, Ireland 3/53), Zimbabwe 214 (49.4 overs; Sibanda 64, Tapash Baisya 2/50). Bangladesh win by 14 runs, lead series 2-1 with 1 to play.

Zimbabwe strolled to an 8 wicket victory in the 2nd ODI versus Bangladesh, after impressive performances from Gary Brent with the ball and Vusi Sibanda with the bat left Bangladesh wondering what hit them.

Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat, but no sooner were they in than Chris Mpofu had sent openers Shahriar Nafees and Mehrab Hossain jnr back to the pavilion with the score on just 5. It didn't get any better for the visitors after that, either - Gary Brent decimated the middle order with three wickets in two overs, while Sean Williams cleaned up the tail. Only a fighting 40 from Mohammad Rafique gave Bangladesh's total some respectability.

Come the Zimbabwe innings, Vusi Sibanda carried on from where Brent had left off and showed scant regard for the Tigers' bowling, wracking up 93 of Zimbabwe's 156 runs. Support was provided by Terry Duffin, in a typically slow-and-steady performance, while Hamilton Masakadza and Sean Williams made cameo appearances as the total was easily reached in the 36th over.

Much more like it from Zimbabwe, then, and hopefully an indication of how they'll play in the remaining two matches this weekend. Check below the cut for the scorecard.

Bangladesh 153 (46 overs; Mohammad Rafique 40, Brent 4/30), Zimbabwe 156/2 (35.2 overs; Sibanda 93*, Saqibul Hasan 1/29). Zimbabwe win by 8 wickets, series tied 1-1 with 2 to play