THE Zimbabwe national cricket team will need to execute their game plan to perfection today in their quest to advance to the Super 12 stage of the ICC T20 World Cup for the first time in history.
The Chevrons face Scotland in a must-win game at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart, Australia, today.
The match is expected to start at 10am Zimbabwean time. The game will be played under the floodlights, as it will be 7pm in Hobart, Australia.
The clash will mark a thrilling end to the Group B contests which have come down to winner-take-all affairs as all the four teams in the pool are sitting on two points each and have equal chances of qualifying.
Sri Lanka and Netherlands have already qualified to the Super 12 after finishing as the top two teams in Group A. Zimbabwe, Scotland, Ireland and West Indies are today set to fight for the remaining two slots.
Two-time champions West Indies and Ireland are set to warm the stage before Zimbabwe and Scotland bring the curtain down in a late game at the same venue.
The Chevrons, who comfortably beat Ireland in their opening game, have had a lot to ponder on following the deflating 31-run defeat to West Indies on their last outing.
While the bowlers have been the most effective weapon, the Zimbabwe batters today need to come out of their shell and stop the over-dependence on one man – Sikandar Raza.
It was still uncertain by yesterday if captain Craig Ervine, who missed the last match due to a mild asthma attack, has recovered to reclaim his place in the team.
The Chevrons were forced to take a closer introspection of their game after the defeat to the West Indies and will be hoping to bounce back stronger.
Experienced wicket-keeper/batsman Regis Chakabva, who led the team against West Indies, told Cricinfo that they drew vital takeaways from the defeat to the Windies.
“I thought that our bowlers stuck to their plan and the process that we came in with, just trying to hit our areas especially the spinners.
“The bowlers did pretty well to pull it back. We would have been happy from 72 to restrict them to 150 as we did. We went in with the confidence that we’d get there.
“We lost one too many wickets in the first 10 overs. Credit to West Indies and Alzarri Joseph. He opened up the gates for them and bowled brilliantly.
“I thought the pitch played very well throughout and didn’t think conditions changed at all. The boys are still pretty confident. We’re disappointed how short we ended up being after such a good start, but we’ll look to bounce back on Friday,” said Chakabva.
Calculators could be required if weather conditions decide to intervene in the last Group B matches. Forecasts have predicted 60 percent chances of precipitation in Hobart today, which means the Net Run Rate could come into play.
As it stands, Scotland have the best NRR in the group followed by Zimbabwe, West Indies and then Ireland at the bottom. So, if all games are washed out, then Scotland and Zimbabwe advance.
If the first match between West Indies and Ireland is played but the second between Zimbabwe and Scotland is washed out, then it’ll be the winner of the first match advancing along with Scotland.
If the first match between West Indies and Ireland is washed out and Scotland and Zimbabwe manage to play, then it will be West Indies advancing with the winner of Scotland versus Zimbabwe.
The permutations are that complex. But what is certain is that Zimbabwe need to beat Scotland to advance to the Super 12 for the first time. They have not been able to progress in the five editions that they have been part of the event.
Although they have dominated previous meetings, Zimbabwe still have a game in their hands against the unpredictable Scots, who are capable of scoring big with the likes of skipper Richie Berrington, George Munsey and Michael Jones to watch out for.
They scored 160 against West Indies in their first game of the tournament. But the Scots are also vulnerable – they lost their second game even after making 176 runs against Ireland.
“We have to move on from this game, we’ll learn what we can from it, but we know that in these group scenarios it’s never straight forward.
“We’ll reflect well on this and come back stronger on Friday,” Scotland captain Berrington said.
Zimbabwe have a better head-to-head against Scotland, having won three and losing one, in four of their previous T20I meetings. – The Herald
