Chevrons: Dying at the death

ZIMBABWE has leaked runs at an average of nine an over in the final ten overs of their last 15 One-day Internationals.

During this period they picked up just 28 wickets from 148 overs.

Only one maiden was bowled, Sean Williams to Wahab Riaz at the 2015 ICC World Cup.

These disastrous statistics put into perspective the Chevrons’ death bowling nightmare.

For Zimbabwe, the term death could be taken in its literal meaning as it is during this period that the Chevrons have lost most of their recent matches.

National team bowling coach Douglas Hondo says Zimbabwe are paying the price for failing to strike early.

“We are not getting wickets in the middle, so we are ending up bowling at guys that are in, maybe in the 60s or 70s, so there is always going to be an uphill task.

“But if we get those guys out before they get to the 70s, we will bowl to new batters and it makes it easy,” he says.

Such was the case last Friday as Zimbabwe conceded 72 runs in the last 10 overs after they had managed to break the 70-run partnership between Kane Williamson and Grant Elliot in the 40th over of their match against New Zealand.

Zimbabwe suffered a 38 run defeat.

How can this be solved?

“We have to create chances and hopefully the fielders back up when there is an opportunity. Guys are getting the yorkers in, the slow balls . . . but as I said when the guy is in it becomes difficult for the bowler, the margin of error becomes small. Not getting wickets in the middle overs is punishing us,” adds Hondo.

The punishment has been ruthless.

At the World Cup, Zimbabwe had South Africa wobbling at 83-4 but the Proteas recovered to post 339 runs, getting 146 in the last ten overs.

Against the West Indies at the same tournament, Zimbabwe conceded 152 runs in the last 10 overs while in the first ODI against New Zealand, the Kiwis recovered from 39-2 to post 303 runs, getting 115 runs at the death.

The trend continued against India when the Asians picked themselves up from 82-4 and went on to post 276 – scoring 106 runs in the last Powerplay.

“We have to do more work, it’s simple,” Hondo reckons.

“The statistics have to improve, we were alright against India in the recent series, but in one game, I think the third game, that’s when we went for a lot.

“You are never satisfied; you keep on doing it because once we slacken your levels will go down. We do all the work here, you can’t be shouting to the bowler ‘bowl this, bowl that’ on the field.

“We actually have to sit down with the captain and all the bowlers and have a discussion on how best we can get wickets.

“Maybe because they are (preparing) batting wickets, we beat them (New Zealand) by seven wickets and they beat us by 10 wickets, that’s an indication that the wickets are batter friendly. Pakistan was seriously flat … 300 now is a par score, the game has evolved.”

Former Zimbabwe right-arm bowler David Mutendera has challenged the Chevrons to put extra hours on the training ground.

“I know the coaches are trying hard to work with the guys, but the bowlers will also need the discipline to study their opponents, know their strength and have plans against them,” says Mutendera, who played nine ODIs for Zimbabwe between 1999 and 2001.

“There is no excuse. If you are picked at that level, 70 percent of the time you should execute your roles. It is also important to have youngsters get expert training outside the country … during my days we used to go to India to an academy run by Australian cricket legend Dennis Lilee.

“And in some matches we have not bowled to field sets that would have been set by the captain. But I must also say the inconsistency of games, maybe with the exception of this year, has also affected such issues. The guys need to be playing more games to learn and develop such skills.”