Vusumuzi Dube
Mehluli Sibanda, Sports Editor
ZIMBABWE missed out on another chance to fine tune for the International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia when their second warm up match against neighbours Namibia was washed out at the Junction Oval in Melbourne on Thursday.
The Craig Ervine captained Chevrons were looking to make amends against Namibia after suffering defeat by 33 runs to Sri Lanka in their first warm up fixture on Tuesday. With the match against Namibia abandoned without a ball being bowled, the two teams resorted to an indoor practice session.
Zimbabwe, making a return to an ICC major event since 2016 are in Group B of the tournament’s first round where they will square off against Ireland, West Indies and Scotland. Namibia are in Group A with Netherlands, Sri Lanka and United Arab Emirates.
The Chevrons will now use the remaining days to prepare themselves for the challenge brought by Ireland, West Indies and Scotland.
A top two finish in the pool will see the Dave Houghton coached 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.
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