The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
THREE months after they broke the hearts of thousands of cricket fans when they lost to United Arab Emirates in a 2019 Cricket World Cup Qualifier at Harare Sports Club, the Chevrons will seek to make the fans forget about that painful defeat when they take on Pakistan in the opening match of the triangular Twenty20 International series this afternoon.
Zimbabwe suffered a three-run defeat to UAE, a result which saw them fail to qualify for next year’s Cricket World Cup in England. A lot has happened since then with Heath Streak and his technical team sacked following the failure to book a place in the global showpiece.
A standoff has also ensued with some senior players making themselves unavailable for selection over owed monies. Zimbabwe go into the tri-series without Brendan Taylor, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams and Craig Ervine.
Zimbabwe, who are ranked number 12 in the shortest format of the game have to be at their best against Pakistan, the best team in T20Is.
The Chevrons have never beaten Pakistan in T20Is with the Pakistanis having won all the previous meetings between the two teams in the fast paced format of the game.
Zimbabwe’s next match is against Australia on Tuesday before they take on Pakistan for the second time on Wednesday. The Chevrons clash with Australia for the second time on Friday with the teams in the top two to meet in the final on Sunday.
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