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ADELAIDE. — Zimbabwe skipper Craig Ervine said yesterday that a shock semi-final spot at the ICC Men’s Twenty20 Cricket World Cup would be the “icing on the cake”.
Zimbabwe play the Netherlands in Adelaide today in their penultimate Super 12 game and must win in their pursuit of a place in the last four.
Zimbabwe, ranked 11th in the world, came through the first round in Australia and then saw their first match in Group 2 washed out against South Africa.
They then stunned Pakistan, before running Bangladesh close in a loss on Sunday.
South Africa top Group 2 with five points, one ahead of India and Bangladesh. Zimbabwe are fourth, with only the top two going into the semi-finals.
“So many positives that the guys will take from this tournament regardless of the next two results,” Ervine told reporters.
“But the real highlight would be to make the semis, that would really put the icing on the cake. Guys are still positive that we will get there.”
This is Zimbabwe’s first time in the Super 12 and Ervine said they must take that momentum on, no matter what happens next in Australia.
“I think the last few months, Zimbabwe cricket has been going from strength to strength. We had some really good results,” said Ervine.
“It’s not just this World Cup, it’s something that we need to try and do consistently going forward.
“You can always have a really good World Cup and after that things drop back down again.
He added: “That’s going to be the challenge for us, to keep this momentum up and keep these performances coming through.”
It is not often that Zimbabwe stand a decent chance of qualifying for the semi-final of an ICC tournament. They were one win away from making the final four of the ICC knock-out — later renamed Champions Trophy — in 2000, but fell short against New Zealand; they made the Super Sixes in the 2003 World Cup, but fizzled out in the race to the last four.
All these years later, a well-rated Zimbabwe unit led by an allrounder living a dream are two steps away from history. To begin, they will need to beat Netherlands today, something they will surely fancy.
Although they are still in contention, Zimbabwe need a collective performance to keep themselves afloat before the much-tougher challenge of India comes their way.
Wessly Madhevere helped them rack up 79 in nine overs against South Africa but the rest of their batters hardly contributed, before the bowling was clubbed for 51 in three overs; but when they squeezed through a one-run win against Pakistan, it was their bowlers Sikandar Raza, Brad Evans, Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava who helped defend a meagre 130; and come Bangladesh, only Sean Williams made a defining contribution as Zimbabwe fell short by just three runs in pursuit of 151.
Zimbabwe’s qualification to the semis took a small hit as they lost a close game against Bangladesh on Sunday. A win against Netherlands will still keep Zimbabwe in the hunt for the semis.
Zimbabwe could not close out the game against Bangladesh in the closing stages of the game. Middle-order batting has been an issue for the Chevrons in the show-piece event. After blazing knocks in T20 Qualifiers, Raza has failed to get going with the bat in the Super 12. Zimbabwe relies heavily on their talisman to get going.
Raza’s contribution as well as Williams would be key for Zimbabwe in doing well against the Netherlands, who have so far been winless. Zimbabwe’s bowling is looking formidable with Blessing Muzarabani, Tendai Chatara, Brad Evans, and Luke Jongwe doing well.
Today, Zimbabwe will seek more consistency from their captain Ervine and Williams, two of their most experienced members in the current set-up. They have fallen for a combined seven single-digit scores in 12 innings since landing in Australia, even as Zimbabwe hope they can deliver when it matters most. Both are in the twilight of their careers, and what better opportunity to ensure they walk away with sweet memories?
Zimbabwe have used 13 players in the Super 12s stage, with tweaks only in their bowling line-up. They wouldn’t want to make too many changes to what looks like a settled unit, with the only decision being whom to leave out in case they decide to recall Jongwe.
For the Netherlands, four out of their six games so far in this World Cup — including the first round — saw tight finishes. They won two of those four matches, before India and Pakistan brushed them aside. But like their bowlers showed by dismissing four batters and making Pakistan work hard even in their chase of 92, Netherlands aren’t easy to push over.
The Netherlands have lost all their three matches in the Super 12, having also come through the first round.
Fast bowler Logan van Beek said the experience of facing top teams including India and stars such as Virat Kohli were a high point for the minnows.
India comfortably beat the Dutch by 56 runs in Sydney.
“The Indian match was special and something that everyone has taken a lot from . . . to face some of these guys that we see on TV quite a lot,” said Van Beek.
Although they are already out of the tournament after threatening to upset Bangladesh in their first game of the Super 12s, the Dutch have certainly left their mark. After all, Max O’Dowd is the World Cup’s fifth-highest run-scorer and Bas de Leede is its joint second-highest wicket-taker.
Zimbabwe and Netherlands don’t meet often – they have played each other only seven times across formats so far — No. 8 will be on the biggest stage and both teams will be relishing it.
Today’s match will be played in Adelaide. The pitch out here is good for batting as the surface is pretty flat. It is a high-scoring ground, but batters need to be careful against spinners.
Zimbabwe v Netherlands
Probable Playing XIs
Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Wessly Madhevere, 2 Craig Ervine (capt), 3 Milton Shumba, 4 Sean Williams, 5 Sikandar Raza, 6 Regis Chakabva (wk), 7 Ryan Burl, 8 Tendai Chatara, 9 Brad Evans, 10 Richard Ngarava, 11 Blessing Muzarabani
Netherlands (probable): 1 Vikramjit Singh, 2 Max O’Dowd, 3 Stephan Myburgh, 4 Tom Cooper, 5 Colin Ackermann, 6 Scott Edwards (capt, wk), 7 Roelof van der Merwe, 8 Tim Pringle, 9 Logan van Beek, 10 Fred Klaasen, 11 Paul van Meekeren — AFP/ESPNCricinfo
Online Reporter