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Eddie Chikamhi
Senior Sports Reporter
HISTORY-MAKER Sikandar Raza says the Zimbabwe cricket team have shifted their focus to the eagerly-awaited clash with two-time world champions West Indies in Group A of the ICC World Cup Qualifier at Harare Sports Club this Saturday.
Raza was in imperious form when the Chevrons chased a formidable target of 316 runs against the Netherlands after scoring the fastest century by a Zimbabwean batsman as well as claiming a four-wicket haul.
Zimbabwe won the match by six wickets. They now have two wins in the bag, from as many games, following the opening day eight-wicket victory against Nepal.
But all that is now behind them as a bigger and more important assignment awaits.
“We are thinking about the West Indies and we are also thinking about every other game as well, to be honest,” said Raza after his historic feat.
“Right now we have just played Holland and we played a very good brand of cricket.
“I think a lot of focus has been placed on the results but not really the process. We just want to play entertaining cricket whether we have ball in hand or bat in hand.
“Things will look after themselves; we have home support behind our backs so we just enjoy the fact that we have had a very good game (against the Netherlands) and we need to regroup and start looking at the West Indies.
“Of course, it’s a champion team and we have all the respect for them but come Saturday, all we want is to be well-prepared for that game and take that game head on,” said Raza.
So far, the script is going according to plan for the Zimbabwean side in this World Cup Qualifier. Senior players Craig Ervine, Sean Williams and Raza have all scored centuries.
Skipper Ervine has led from the front and was named Man of the Match in the first game against Nepal for his unbeaten 128-ball 121. Zimbabwe successfully chased Nepal’s 290 with Ervine holding the innings together well.
Williams also came in with a quick-fire 102 and was unbeaten after facing just 70 balls, to become Zimbabwe’s fastest centurion.
He could have broken the record two days later against the Netherlands but he fell just nine runs short, having faced 58 deliveries.
His partnership with Raza 84 runs (from 60 balls) for the third wicket, however, was crucial in keeping Zimbabwe in the game against the gutsy Dutch side.
After Williams’ dismissal, Raza continued on the belligerent mode as he had something special up his sleeve. He struck six boundaries and a massive eight maximums.
Of note, he smashed three successive sixes off Shariz Ahmad on his way to becoming Zimbabwe’s fastest centurion in ODIs, after facing just 54 balls. He bettered Williams’ record of 70 balls, which had only been set two days earlier.
Raza told journalists that the presence of Dave Houghton in the Chevrons changing room has brought a new vibe. Houghton joined this time last year and inherited a side that was low in confidence after a series of battering by both big and small teams.
Houghton has encouraged his team to play an attacking and entertaining brand of cricket, which has been the hallmark of the team for the past 12 months.
With that type of pay Zimbabwe managed to win the ICC T20 Cricket Qualifier at home this time last year and went on to feature in some exciting games at the finals of the tournament in Australia.
“Dave has brought this culture, this mind-set in the changing room that unfortunately we were missing,” said Raza.
“We were on the verge of losing a culture and lucky for all of us that we found Dave on the right time, we signed him at the right time.
“If we had not done that I don’t think we would have gone to the ICC T20 World Cup (last year), to be honest. There are so many good things I can say about him. Dave Haughton is the answer.
“He has brought everything Zimbabwe was missing. All that Zimbabwe already had within ourselves, he has brought it out,” said Raza.
“I think we have also been together for a long time and Dave took over last year in July “So he has been with us for a year now. We are gelling very well. We have got each other’s back; we look for inspiration.
“Before that we used to look for inspiration outside the changing room but now we look for inspiration within ourselves and inside the changing room.
“There are a lot of good cricketers inside that changing room and that can inspire us to win a game,” said Raza.
Zimbabwe will be following with keen interests as the West Indies battle it out with Nepal at Harare Sports Club today. The Windies thrashed USA by 39 runs in their first match at Takashinga last Sunday.
Online Reporter