By Perkins-Tino Bare.
Zimbabwe`s National Cricket team the Chevrons started off their series against India losing both of the opening ODI`s and consequently putting the 3 match series to bed as India now take a commanding 2-0
lead and Zimbabwe will be looking forward to gain some consolation in the final match of the series to be played on Tuesday.
In the first match played at the Harare Sports Club Zimbabwe started off brilliantly as they had India reeling at 83-5 before they staggered their way to 255 for 5 thanks to a brilliant stand at the crease by their batsmen.
The chase came short agonisingly by just 4 runs with the skipper Elton Chigumbura starring in that match as he had an unbeaten ton at 104 but he eventually failed to get the 6 runs from 3 balls which we needed to wrap up the match.
In the second match Zimbabwe was totally blown away as India composed themselves which saw us losing rather embarrassingly this time for we came down from a narrow margin of 4 runs to a whopping 62 runs.
Zimbabwe`s chase this time was awful as our batsmen did not show any resistance on the let alone the will to win the match and level the series. The only who stuck out of all our batsmen was Chamu Chibhabha with his knock of 72.
Anyone Wanna Dance?
The one thing that has become peculiar of Zimbabwe`s batsmen is that they never build lasting partnerships which is an area the coach has to address.
In the 1st ODI we had Elton Chigumbura fighting alone at the crease but he had no one to partner him up so that they could mount a successful chase. This was as well the case in the second match when
Chamu was just there at the crease and one after the other they came and they all left but none wanted the dance with him.
Our batsmen seem to as if they do not know how it’s like to stay there at the crease defending the wicket and at the same time keeping the scoreboard ticking. We have an issue whereby our batsmen struggle with rotating the strike, getting that momentum going. Let`s expose our boys to more test cricket so that they get used to spending time at the crease in the sun and our batsman slowly getting used to batting for the whole day and just facing 40 odd overs without losing your wicket. This would accustom them to switching from attacking the bowler to defending their wickets which they seem to struggle to keep.
The other thing as well is that of low scoring and failing to kick on from a good start to posting a good score. In the second match Sikander Raza and Sean Williams tried to entertain Chamu at the crease but they both failed to kick on and build any meaningful partnership.
The disappointment that was on Chamu`s face when Hamilton Masakadza lost his wicket was so evident especially after Hamilton just seemed to have the right approach in that he was not in a quick rush to post runs. He called off a couple of unnecessary runs which really lifted off pressure to get those quick runs but as the Indians piled on the pressure it also became too much to deal with and he gave in.
In the 1st ODI as well we had Graeme Cremer who just when we thought that together with Elton Chigumbura they were to take us all the way, he went on to play an unnecessary reverse sweep which was the turning point shifting the momentum back to the Indians.
These petty scores of 20s and 30s will not do the job as our batsmen have slowly become accustomed to. After posting a decent scores why do they then constantly fail to kick on from there as if they had been on some damp squib? It is then worrying because we then have a case whereby they either perform dismally or a 20 would be good enough with just that one guy who would have been able to kick on and get that half century.
During the World Cup the coach tried out a opening partnership of Chamu Chibhabha and Sikander Raza and the two combine well more than ever as an opening partnership. The one with Vusi has failed, twice
and its time that the coach regains confidence in Sikander Raza and elevate him up the order for he is so good combining with Chamu. Those two and then the senior players in Sean Williams, Hamilton Masakadza and Elton Chigumbura, those should be the ones rotating the strike and its true what`s been said that they should come out and help the young guys in rotating the strike and just building on that momentum and in a matter of time it will surely stick onto the player.
Give the Ball to the Kids In the Second ODI we all saw how the skipper struggled to get his bowlers to break that opening stand and the wickets were just not coming along. Elton Chigumbura ended up having to use a total of 8 bowlers on the day. They failed to break that opening partnership and by the time they eventually did it had swelled up to 112 with Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay both with half centuries.
The skipper ended up turning to regular batsmen for the wickets with Hamilton Masakadza, Sikander Raza all having a go. Cremer and Sean Williams were economical on the day but they had no wickets to talk of.
The welcome revelation had to be Neville Madziva who showed some spectacular death bowling to post career best figures of 4 for 49. This is one guy I saw bowl brilliantly for a long spell that is against Afghanistan A last year in that 2 day match and he was consistent then.
But generally the skipper is in dire need of at least two trusted bowlers whom he knows he can turn to for wickets and especially some efficient fielders not the sloppy fielding we were seeing from Vitori dropping easy catches. Graeme Cremer and Sean Williams would seem ultimate candidates for that task as our spinners but I just have to ask where is John Nyumbu and Luke Jongwe? We busy trying to rehabilitate Cremer who had quit the game for golf and I`m particularly not sure about his match fitness especially his strength which he needs to build on.
These two young men showed glimpses of brilliance especially John Nyumbu in the way that he tore through the Australian batting line-up. Instead of keeping them in franchise cricket we need to ensure theyget ample game-time rather because what I saw in the second ODI wasaddition would have been Malcom Waller but snap the ICC struck again.
The seam department is another area of concern in terms of the pace itself otherwise he`s spoilt for choice especially with Brian Vitori making his return. There are too many guys bowling medium pace and weneed some serious pace to add to the seam department. Donald Tiripano however, combined well with him but Vitori struggled especially in the 2nd ODI where he struggled to maintain his line and ended up going either too straight or too wide and being hit for the boundary. He wasinconsistent and could not maintain his line well and he also seemed low on confidence as he was slow and was not raring to bring his all to the batsmen.
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