Online Reporter
Brandon Moyo, Zimpapers Sports Hub
SIKANDAR Raza marked a personal milestone on Monday, becoming Zimbabwe’s most capped T20I captain.
But instead of celebrating the record, he focused on the lessons to be learned from their five-wicket loss to South Africa in the Tri-Series opener at Harare Sports Club.
The match was Raza’s 39th in charge, surpassing Craig Ervine’s previous record of 38.
Despite the defeat, the all-rounder saw reasons for optimism, while remaining clear eyed about the areas that need tightening.
“The good thing is that we ticked a lot of boxes,” said Raza. “Our power play bowling was good, and our seamers outside the power play were brilliant. Our finishing in the last five overs was great.
Between overs 11 to 20, we scored about 100 runs for two (wickets).
I think between overs seven to 10, we went at four an over which put us on the back foot and made the job harder. If we had gone seven an over in those four overs, that’s 15 to 20 more runs, and 142 becomes 165.”
Zimbabwe, sent in to bat, posted 141 for 6 in their 20 overs. South Africa chased down the target with 26 balls to spare, reaching 142 for 6 in 15.5 overs.
Raza top-scored for Zimbabwe with an unbeaten 54 off 38 balls, his 15th T20I half-century, and said they were about 20 runs short of a defendable total.
“In winter, 165 is not a bad total if you’re batting first,” he said. “I know they made it look easy, but we were neck and neck up until 11 overs.
There are a lot of good things we did, and we’ll sit down and see where we went wrong. But between overs seven and ten, we could’ve done slightly better.”
Raza praised the energy and intent of Ryan Burl and Tashinga Musekiwa in the middle order, as well as Brian Bennett’s steady contribution at the top.
“The intent from Burl and Musekiwa was brilliant. It’s not easy to bat at five, six and seven in T20. When they came out, they took the game on, which was really nice, that’s a plus for me,” said Raza.
“Bennett has been brilliant at the top, so if we can find someone to bat at number two and three and take the game on in a smarter way, that would help us a lot.
I spoke to the team and said I’m proud of the things we did right. And let’s admit the things we did wrong.”
Raza, always forthright, emphasized the importance of honest reflection and constructive feedback, especially with a young side.
“It’s important to stay patient and be honest with the team. If you’re just positive without being honest, then you’re not helping anyone.
There’s a way to be honest with the youngsters that’s encouraging and constructive instead of being negative and shouting,” he said.
“There are a lot of good things we’re doing. All I’m asking is that the standard has to improve in games to come. The result will look after itself.
“We just have to keep playing our brand, showing our fans and the media that we’re learning and doing better.”
Raza repeated that raising the team’s internal bar remains his key message.
“If we raise our bar for the next game and learn from this past game, then I think it will look after itself. All I’m asking from my boys is to make sure the standard keeps going up.”
With the ball, Richard Ngarava was the standout, finishing with 3 for 35 from his four overs. Trevor Gwandu chipped in with 2 for 15 in 3.1 overs.
The next match in the Tri-Series is scheduled for today, with South Africa facing New Zealand.
Zimbabwe return to action on Friday when they take on the Kiwis at Harare Sports Club.
All matches begin at 1pm. — @brandon_malvin
