Chronicle Editor
Mehluli Sibanda, Sports Editor
FIFTEEN players, fifteen million expectations!
That sums it well as the Zimbabwe senior men’s cricket team leaves the country today for Australia to take part in the International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup.
After weeks of preparing, the Chevrons depart for the land Down Under. The way the team has played in the shorter version of the game this year gives Zimbabweans great hope that the Dave Houghton coached lads will go past the first round.
Zimbabwe have taken part in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup five times, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016 but on all those occasions, they failed to make it past the first round. There is huge expectation that the team will make it past the first round this time around.
Before getting down to serious stuff, Zimbabwe have two warm up matches waiting for them in Melbourne. They face Sri Lanka in their first warm up match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on Monday, October 10 and clash with Namibia at the Junction Oval three days later.
Zimbabwe start off their campaign in the tournament in the first round where they will clash with Ireland, West Indies and Scotland, with all their pool matches to be played at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart. First up is a date with Ireland on 17 October before they meet the West Indies on October 19. Scotland are Zimbabwe’s last group opponents on October 21.
A top two finish in the pool will see the Chevrons proceed to the Super 12 stage of the competition where they will get to meet stiffer opposition. Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa are some of the potential opponents for Zimbabwe should they qualify for the Super 12 phase of the tournament.
Zimbabwe were absent when the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup was held in the United Arab Emirates and Oman after they missed the qualifying tournament in 2019 due to the country’s membership being suspended. This was after the ICC deemed that the action taken by the Sports and Recreation Commission to suspend the Zimbabwe Cricket board amounted to “third party” interference, a violation of the world cricket governing body’s statutes.
Fixtures:
Zimbabwe v Ireland (October 17), Bellerive Oval, Hobart (10:00 Zimbabwean time)
Zimbabwe v West Indies (October 19), Bellerive Oval, Hobart (10:00 Zimbabwean time)
Zimbabwe v Scotland (October 21) Bellerive Oval, Hobart (10:00 Zimbabwean time) — @Mdawini_29
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