The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
LAST Thursday was a joyful day for one of the most senior cricketers on the Zimbabwe domestic front when John Nyumbu reached the 100-wicket mark in List A cricket when he picked up two wickets for Tuskers against Eagles in a Pro50 Championship match.
Nyumbu, an off-spin bowler took two wickets for 39 runs in nine overs to guide Tuskers to a 72-run victory over Eagles at Takashinga Cricket Club. The 35-year old’s effort on that day saw him take his wickets tally to 101 wickets in List A cricket having played 96 matches before Tuskers.
While Nyumbu is excited to get to the 100-wicket mark, he was quick to point out that he was not necessarily working towards the milestone but it was bound to happen if he kept on taking wickets.
“All feels good to reach a milestone and keeps spurring me to keep going and working harder. Not necessarily looking forward to but as a bowler you also want to keep taking wickets and that leads to these milestones,’’ Nyumbu said.
His best figures in List A cricket remain the 4/19 for Tuskers against Eagles in a Pro50 Championship fixture at Queens Sports Club in December 2014. His efforts on that day saw Tuskers overpower Eagles by three wickets.
It has been a long journey for Nyumbu who made his List A debut way back in 2006 for Matabeleland against Masvingo in Harare.
Nyumbu is looking to take each game as it comes and enjoy the journey with no plans to retire as he still has eyes on being called up to the national team. While he has represented Zimbabwe in all the three formats at international level but it is Test cricket that he has enjoyed the most. Nyumbu has represented Zimbabwe in three Tests, 19 One Day Internationals and two Twenty20 Internationals. He last donned national colours in a T20I against Pakistan in July 2018 at Harare Sports Club.
“I believe every sportsman aspires to play at the highest level on the game and I am no different. I have had a taste of all 3 formats of the game and I believe I can adapt to all of them, so I cannot say that it’s Test cricket that I can do better but I can say Test Cricket is the format that I enjoy the most,’’ said Nyumbu.
He attributes his success this season to Farai Gunda, Fleming Nkomo and Pollock Mubobo, the individuals he did a lot of work with when the lockdown was eased.
