Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema Zimpapers Sports Hub
CHEVRONS head coach Justin Sammons has a lot to mull over during the next 48 hours.
For all intents and purposes, Bangladesh’s recent visit was a success for Sammons as Zimbabwe completely dominated their opponents in the Test and the One Day Internationals (ODIs) series.
The Chevrons beat their Asian opponents inside three days by an innings and 85 runs, before taking the ODIs 2-1.
“Yeah, overall, I thought the tour was a success,” said Sammons.
“I think the big one, or the big two, is where a huge amount of our focus and preparation went. That was the Test.
“We had not played any Test cricket for a very long time and it was crucial that we began the series on a good note.
“The ODIs, as well, were another format we looked at, especially with the World Cup coming soon.
“A lot of fundamental work done throughout this off-season or pre-season went into those formats and we managed to get convincing wins.
“The effort and hard work paid off in those two longer formats and, as such, I see the series as a success.
“I am, however, a bit disappointed that we finished the way we did.
“But once again, it does give us areas to keep working on, which we know we need to do,” he said.
Bangladesh will most definitely leave the country the happier of the two sides.
That comes after Bangladesh won their first T20I series of 2026, coming back from 1-0 down to beat Zimbabwe 2-1 in Bulawayo.
Their four-wicket win over Zimbabwe on Sunday spoiled Chevrons’ T20 skipper Sikandar Raza’s milestone match, in which he became the most-capped Zimbabwean international with 314 appearances across all formats.
Bangladesh limited Zimbabwe to a below-par score of 141, exposing two of Zimbabwe’s biggest weaknesses: batting and catching.
On their way to 141 runs, Zimbabwe only had one partnership of substance — a 71-run stand for the second wicket between Brian Bennett and Dion Myers.
A total of seven batters failed to reach double figures, which will be a point of concern as they prepare to take on India later this week.
“Yeah, a rather disappointing performance,” said the Chevrons gaffer. At the end of the day, there are two areas that have let us down throughout the series.
“The first one is the catching. Had we held our catches, it would have been a totally different game.
“The second one is our ability to finish off the innings with the bat.
“We only picked up 34 runs in the last five overs when we were probably looking for 50-plus. That is a 15-run swing, which would have made a big difference in the game,” said the Chevrons gaffer.
Sammons does, however, believe that there are some positives to take away from the loss and the series as a whole.
“The bowling has been superb from the seamers, with Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani, in particular, incredible all series,” he said.
“The way Brad Evans finished off the innings with the ball was really good and a big positive in comparison to the second game.
“He took his lessons and he moved forward and it was great to see. We also showed a lot of fight and resilience. The way they kept fighting until the very end was obviously a huge positive,” said Sammons.
Now with the Bangladesh series in the rearview mirror, the Chevrons have a short turnaround before they face India.
The reigning T20 champions arrived in the country on Sunday evening, hours after Zimbabwe’s four-wicket loss to Bangladesh.
Zimbabwe and India are scheduled to square off in a short three-match T20 series, slated for July 23-26 in the capital.
The series begins this Thursday, with the second and third T20s slated for Saturday and Sunday.
All three matches will be held at Harare Sports Club.
India brought a young and experimental squad for their short tour, with Shreyas Iyer taking over as captain. Several uncapped players have been thrown into the mix and Sanju Samson has been left out.
The headline name in the squad is Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the 15-year-old opener who became India’s youngest-ever international earlier this month against England, breaking a record that had belonged to Sachin Tendulkar.
India, as opposed to Bangladesh, will be a tougher challenge, especially given the fact the Chevrons go into the three-match series a little short on confidence.
The momentum has gone after back-to-back defeats to Bangladesh, during which their catching and batting has been very poor.
Still, Sammons remains excited and has backed his charges to bounce back.
“We are very excited,” he said.
“What a great opportunity to play against one of the best teams in the world again.
“India will give us a good gauge to see where we are going forward, especially with the T20 World Cup coming in 2028.
“So it gives us our gauge and something to work from.
“We know it is going to be super difficult and we’re going to have to be at our very best to compete with them,” said the Chevrons coach.
On the momentum, Sammons said: “I do think losing to Bangladesh hit us big.
“Had we won that game I think the guys’ belief would have gone through the roof.
“But having it go the other way, obviously, it takes a bit of a knock and it’s just about keeping on believing in our abilities and giving our absolute all as we move forward into that series,” he said.
Colletta Dube