admintoday’s clash against New Zealand in the third and final ODI at Queens Sports Club.
The Englishman indicated that Njabulo Ncube and Natsai Mushangwe have a good chance of making their first appearance in the red strip while Prosper Utseya is likely to be rested.
Zimbabwe are trailing 0-2 in the Castle Lager ODI series that started in Harare last week and Butcher said it was going to be difficult for his side to win here but they would “try hard to win”.
“I cannot promise that we are going to win but we are going to try hard because if we look at the last two ODI we played in Harare you will note that there were a number of positives especially in the second game and we are hoping to build from there.
“We will try to put right that which we did not do well in the previous games.
“We cannot control their performance but we van limit how they play and maybe we can give ourselves a chance,” said Butcher.
Zimbabwe lost the opening ODIs last week with the first being a nine-wicket defeat last Thursday and went on to suffer a four-wicket defeat with captain Brendan Taylor scoring centuries in both games.
Missing the services of three of his top bowling options, Brian Vitori, Kyle Jarvis and Graeme Creamer, Butcher believes his side could have done well if they were available for the series.
“They would obviously be making a big difference to the side but Vitori has not been available due to a stress fracture on his knee while Jarvis will also not be available after he injured his foot in the last game.
“I would love to have a look at Njabulo Ncube tomorrow (today) and he is most likely to play.
“He has impressed me over a long time and I guess this will be a perfect opportunity for us to see how he will fare.
“”And so most of the Tuskers bowlers will have a go at the game as well,” said Butcher.
Zimbabwe have struggled to break the opening partnership of Rob Nicol and Martin Guptill but on Saturday there was some promise and both survived confident lbw appeals that could have gone either way and changed the complexion of the game.
“To be honest we haven’t bowled our best but we have been a steady side, the pitch at Sports Club was good but we also have to give credit to New Zealand for the way they have played.
“Taylor has been the big scorer in the (ODI) series so far and I am happy that there were some good supporting figures as well from Foster
(Mutizwa) and (Malcom) Waller.
“In the first game we were 20/4 and that was disappointing.
“”But on Saturday we were 41 for the loss of one wicket but I wish our batsmen could come up with more runs,” said Butcher.
He conceded that his side lacks confidence and despite having played more cricket than New Zealand, since the World Cup, they have been found wanting.
“New Zealand bat with a lot of confidence and we do not have that confidence in our side because the Black Caps, coming from a semi-final game at the World Cup, are surely more confident than us.
“Just because you play more cricket doesn’t make you a better cricketer because you still have to prove it for yourself,” he said.
The Zimbabwe side held a morning training session at the match venue yesterday before the Black Caps also occupied the field in the blazing condition of Bulawayo.
Squads
Zimbabwe:
Brandon Taylor (captain), Vusi Sibanda, Elton Chigumbura, Kyle Jarvis, Keegan Meth, Tatenda Taibu, Hamilton Masakadza, Forster Mutizwa, Raymond Price, Natsai Mushangwe, Prosper Utseya, Malcom Waller, Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Chris Mpofu.
New Zealand:
Ross Taylor (captain), Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill, Jesse Ryder, Kane Williamson, James Franklin, BJ Watling, Rob Nicol, Luke Woodcock, Doug Bracewell, Jacob Oram, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Graeme Aldridge, Andy McKay. Chris Martin, Tim Southee, Dan Vettori, Jeetan Patel
Online Reporter