The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Sports Editor
AHEAD of next month’s International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia, Zimbabwe’s players have clearly bought into Dave Houghton’s system of cricket upon his appointment, and the results reflect it after a series defeat to Namibia back in May.
Before Houghton’s arrival, the Chevrons suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Namibia who won the five-match Twenty20 International series 3-2at Queens Sports Club, the first ever success for the Namibian over an ICC Full Member nation.
Zimbabwe went on to suffer more humiliation when Afghanistan won all the six white ball matches at Harare Sports Club. It was after the defeats to Afghanistan that the Zimbabwe Cricket board acted by removing Lalchand Rajput and replaced him with Houghton.
Sikandar Raza raises his bat
The Zimbabwean legend led the team to an emphatic Qualifier B campaign, going undefeated as they won the tournaments in front of a packed Queens Sports Club to book a ticket to Australia. Zimbabwe followed that with a 2-1 T20I triumph over Bangladesh, their first ever series win over the Asian in this format of the game.
Sikandar Raza could make a case as the world’s form white-ball player, and new skipper Craig Ervine can entrust a bevy of players considering their plethora of bowling options.
Their victory in the third Super League ODI against Australia may have come in a different format, though a win against a strong side in Australian conditions can only be confidence-building one.
Zimbabwe have in their last 10 T20Is won seven and only lost three. They will look to carry that impressive form when they collide with Scotland, Ireland and West Indies in the first round. A top two finish in the group will see them proceed to the round of 12, which will be a great achievement for a team that missed the last Men’s T20 World Cup following the country’s suspension by the ICC, which saw the Chevrons not being able to take part in the qualifier for the 2021 tournament.
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