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Harare Bureau
THE odds are heavily stacked against the hosts and Zimbabwe will need to punch above their weight for them to pluck something, or even be competitive, in the first of the three One Day Internationals against Pakistan that start at Harare Sports Club today.The odds favour the visitors, former world champions in this format of the game, who have always been one of the globe’s strongest teams in the 50-over format of the game.
They come into this contest bubbling with confidence after securing a 2-0 victory in the weekend T20 series. Pakistan have won three of their last ODIs while Zimbabwe are coming from a 5-0 series whitewash against world champions India, and just add to the pressure on the men in red today, the visitors have won 12 of the 15 ODIs they have played in this country against the hosts.
Pakistan did not hold back in bringing a full-strength squad made up of veteran bowlers and batsmen all with proven credentials. Captain Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdur Rehman and Asad Shafiq are the additions to the Pakistan squad for the ODIs in place of Sohail Tanvir, Zulfiqar Babar and Sohaib Maqsood, although there was a case for keeping the inexperienced batsman Maqsood around the team for the ODI leg.
However, Zimbabwe are a bit more optimistic after their spirited fight in the T20 series as they showed genuine signs of improvement.
National team assistant coach Stephen Mangongo believes that his side can achieve some positive results if the bowling, batting and fielding all come to the party.
“Realistically, we are expecting all three departments to function properly, that has been the biggest weakness either the batting does well then the bowling comes short and vice versa, those are the primary areas,” he said.
Conventional wisdom would suggest that top-order partnerships are crucial to any team that wants to win an ODI – top order sees off the new ball, makes it easier for the lower order to build on those runs, and then use those runs to put pressure on the opposition.
Zimbabwe is reverting to the old traditional opening partnerships which suggest that Sikander Raza, despite his good show at the top, may not make the starting eleven today.
It appears the technical team and selectors will be banking on experience over form and this may cost the team dearly, yet again.
“A winning innings is built on top order foundation and we’ve gone back to the reliable opening partnership of Hamilton Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda which is a proven combination.
“Since the India series they have got back in carrying their form from the T20s and if they do that then we can get a competitive score,” said Mangongo.
An expert opinion from the grounds staff at Harare Sports Club suggests that the wicket can produce a score of 300 runs as a competitive total.
But there are challenges that will not make that an easy task.
For Pakistan it is their inconstancy that might let them down and a set of spinners stand in the way of Zimbabwe. Visiting captain Misbah-ul-Haq said his team will not take any chances and are likely not to make experiments with their starting XI.
“Any side at home could be dangerous, we would like to give a few youngsters chances but still we will like to go with the main strength and try to win, it is important for us to win this.”
Mangongo believes his batmen are the greatest threat to themselves and that Pakistan spinners are just a catalyst of their demise.
“We haven’t really been troubled by spin but we have been committing suicide and those are two different things.
“Our options when we have been doted have been suicidal and all we need to do is hit the ball on the ground and keep rotating it, if they put dot ball it’s okay that is part of international cricket.
“We are playing against one of the top bowlers in the world, Ajmal is one of them, so give him due respect if he puts in two dots or two maidens in a 50-over match, there are 300 balls and there is a long way to go and it’s that temperament that we need to sort out.”
Probable starting line-ups:
Zimbabwe:1 Hamilton Masakadza, 2 Vusi Sibanda, 3 Brendan Taylor, 4 Sean Williams, 5 Malcolm Waller, 6 Timycen Maruma, 7 Elton Chigumbura, 8 Prosper Utseya, 9 Shingirai Masakadza, 10 Brian Vitori, 11 Tendai Chatara.
Pakistan: 1 Nasir Jamshed, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Umar Amin, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Saeed Ajmal, 9 Asad Ali, 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Mohammad Irfan
Online Reporter