adminJeffrey Murimbechi Sports Correspondent
IT might seem as if Zimbabwe have an easy task to qualify into the second round of the ICC World Twenty20 Cup in Bangladesh because they are more familiar to the conditions than their opponents. But Brendan Taylor and his men face a tough time on the pitches of Chittagong. Zimbabwe and many visiting teams have be haunted in the past by the pitches and slow outfield at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong where adjusting to the peculiar seaside subcontinent conditions is a huge challenge.
National team video analyst, Stanley Chioza, travelled with the team on Wednesday and gave a brief account of the conditions to expect in Bangladesh.
“Bangladesh being in the subcontinent, from our experiences there before, we expect low and slow wickets because it is a dry and humid area.
“We tried to create those conditions in our last week of training in Harare to try and make sure that our batsmen get used to batting on similar wickets.
“Although we start off in Dhaka and fly over to Chittagong we will get the new guys to acclimatise, but still the two cities are two extremes.
“Chittagong turns a lot and our spinners will have a joyful time there meanwhile in Dhaka the seamers will have to be on point because it is tough to get anything out of the surfaces there,” said Chioza.
Zimbabwe will play their first official warm-up match against Hong Kong at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium where only two International Twenty20s have ever been played in a series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
In November 2009, Zimbabwe were bowled out for 44 runs in 24.5 overs on the same pitch.
In 2011 West Indies were bowled out for 61 in 22 overs.
It is not unusual for batsmen to score centuries and teams to score well over 200 runs in international Twenty20 matches, but this is unlikely to be the case in places like Chittagong .
Statistics from the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium show that the ground average in international Twenty20 matches is 144.25 runs, this is a figure analysts such as Chioza and the coaches will use in formulating game plans in such difficult batting conditions.
“In any match, after examining the wicket, the first six overs will be key for us to maintain a good run rate and thereafter we open up.
“I would not say 200 is almost impossible in the subcontinent and if a lot of spin is involved it may be quite difficult for any team but if a team is able to get 150 to 160 runs in the tournament then they have better chances of progressing,” said Chioza.
After Hong Kong, Zimbabwe will play its second warm-up match against Afghanistan at the MA Aziz Stadium.
Zimbabwe scored 204 against Bangladesh in 2005 while the hosts’ lowest score on the same ground was 86 runs against New Zealand a year earlier.
Online Reporter