Andrew
Sports Reporter
Dave Houghton’s arrival as coach coincided with the Chevrons’ resurgence, but the coach is demanding more from his charges, as they seek to make an impact at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup currently underway in Australia.
The former national team captain’s successful stint with the game has had a rub-on effect on the Chevrons, who held their nerve and put up a disciplined performance to book a maiden place in the Super 12 on Friday.
On five previous occasions, Zimbabwe failed do go beyond the first round.
Of course, the Chevrons are still work in progress and certainly not yet the genuine article that Houghton and Zimbabweans would want them to be.
But so far, everything has gone according to the script for them at the T20 World Cup.
Zimbabwe finished top of Group B after the first round and were ahead of the much-fancied two-time T20 World champions West Indies, while Ireland and Scotland came second and third, respectively.
As they look to the next stage of the tournament, Houghton, who has only lost two T20 International games since his appointment in June, is targeting to “take home some big scalps”.
“Obviously, we are over the moon,” said the 65-year-old.
“I don’t want to be unrealistic. Obviously, everybody would sit and say we want to win it, but what we want is to cause some damage.
“For us, if we take home some big scalps, that would be great, and to get into the semi-finals will be even better, but I am looking at taking one game at a time.”
He also revealed details of the candid talk he had with the team before they left for Australia.
“When I took over as coach in June, ahead of the qualifiers, the biggest and main objective was to get here (Australia).
“I did say to the guys before we left home that it was nice that we qualified to be here (Australia) but that is not our main objective. Our main objective is to get through and qualify, and do as much damage as we can to qualify for the Super 12,” he said.
As the tournament progresses, the Chevrons start off their Super 12 campaign with a date against South Africa tomorrow before taking on Pakistan, Bangladesh and Netherlands in their Group 2 fixtures.
Houghton was full of praise for his charges’ resilience and mentality in their must-win match against Scotland on Friday.
“I was not worried about the way we played against the West Indies.
“We did well in the field and they won the game with their bowlers.
“Going into Friday’s game, we wanted to play the same way and I am excited that our players continue to do it.
“It was a tough game and the guys are happy to keep playing that way, and I want us to keep playing that way.”
The Chevrons’ change of fortunes, he added, is because they can now play freely.
At the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup in 2007, Zimbabwe needed just one win to progress to the then Super 8 after their opening five-wicket victory against Australia.
But they went on to lose to England to finish bottom in their group.
In 2009, the Chevrons did not participate at the World Cup due to a diplomatic stand-off between hosts England and Zimbabwe.
At the 2010 World Cup hosted by the West Indies, they exited the tournament winless, after losing against Sri Lanka and New Zealand. It was to be the same story in Sri Lanka in 2012, as the Chevrons returned home empty-handed after suffering defeats in their two group matches against South Africa and Sri Lanka.
Two years later, ICC increased the number of teams to 16 but the national cricket team suffered the same fate by failing to progress beyond the first round.
At the 2016 World Cup held in India, Zimbabwe finished second in their first-round group matches, as they battled for a Super 10 spot.
They won two matches from three and were pipped to the summit of their group by Afghanistan, who had won all their matches.
Zimbabwe failed to participate at the 2021 showcase as Zimbabwe Cricket had been suspended by ICC.
Online Reporter