Hondo praises his bowlers. . . expects Afghanistan to be tougher opponents in second Test

07 Mar, 2021 - 00:03 0 Views
Hondo praises his bowlers. . . expects Afghanistan to be tougher opponents in second Test Douglas Hondo

The Sunday News

Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE national cricket team bowling coach, Douglas Hondo has praised fast bowlers, Blessing Muzarabani, Victor Nyauchi as well as Donald Tiripano for their efforts in the first Test against Afghanistan played at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates last week.

Muzarabani and Nyauchi were excellent in the first Test, a match Zimbabwe won by 10 wickets. Tiripano managed to give the much needed support to the younger seamers. Playing in only his second Test, Muzarabani picked up a total of six wickets, with best figures of 4/48 while Nyauchi also claimed six wickets, his finest effort being 3/30. Tiripano picked up four wickets in the match.

The brilliant show by the Zimbabwean bowlers saw Afghanistan skittled out for 131 in their first innings and 135 in their second attempt. Zimbabwe were left requiring a paltry 17 runs for the win and they wrapped up what should have been a five-day contest in just two days.

Hondo, who picked up 21 wickets in nine Tests for Zimbabwe put down the bowlers’ success to hard work that is now paying off in the long run.

“It was exciting to see Victor (Nyauchi) and Blessing (Muzarabani) taking the wickets in Test cricket, just to show how much a lot of hard work without any results pays off in the long run and also with the support of Donny (Tiripano) the senior bowler. It was a really solid effort from the seamers,’’ Hondo said.

Hondo is expecting Afghanistan to be better prepared for the second Test, which gets underway on Wednesday, which means Zimbabwe have to brace themselves for whatever the Asians will throw at them.

“We expect the opposition to have done a bit more homework than us so we need to step it up on our preparations, how we are going to end up overcoming whatever challenges they bring for the second Test so we are preparing for all eventualities,’’ he said.

Afghanistan should have their star bowler, leg spinner Rashid Khan back for the second Test after he missed the first because of a finger injury.

Meanwhile Zimbabwe Cricket are now waiting for the green light from the Sports and Recreation Commission to resume the country’s premier first-class cricket competition, the Logan Cup. Cricket is one of the low risk sports that have been allowed to restart.

ZC managing director Givemore Makoni said they should start as soon they are given the go ahead by the SRC.

Makoni indicated that while cricket has been allowed to resume, the conditions are that they have to apply for permission to the SRC to hold competitions.

“We are starting the Logan soon, we are working on the logistics, we are waiting for a response from the SRC, we want to be compliant, we are doing the groundwork at the moment,’’ Makoni said.

Players from the five franchises have started training in anticipation of the resumption of first-class cricket.

The Logan Cup, when it resumes will continue in Harare with Harare Sports Club, Old Hararians and Takashinga being the venues. — @Mdawini_29

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