Online Reporter
Brandon Moyo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE’S T20I captain Sikandar Raza has set the terms for Harare. Sort the powerplay, close out at the death, and the World Cup path opens. Miss either window and the Chevrons make life hard for themselves when the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier starts on September 26.
Raza spoke after Zimbabwe sealed a 2-1 series win over Namibia at Queens Sports Club on Thursday, a useful tune-up that still exposed the soft spots he wants fixed.
“The powerplay is an area of concern. If you look at the last five out of six games, we have leaked, there has always been that 20 run over in the powerplay and unfortunately, today (vs Namibia) there were a couple. Also we brought the game back but when we got to the death there is always one over that goes for 20 plus. The moment you get a 20 plus runs over, it just kills everything. We have to be a bit braver in our thought process, trust our skills a bit more and stick with the plan a bit more. If we can do that, that comes with experience and a strong mindset. Hopefully we can improve those things and take it from there,” said Raza.
The finale underlined the point. Zimbabwe leaked 85 in the first six and managed only one wicket as Jan Frylinck tore into the start with a 13-ball half-century, the joint third fastest, including 26 off Trevor Gwandu’s fourth over. The recovery came, but the damage had already framed the chase.
Even so, Raza sees a platform to build on from the Sri Lanka series in Harare and this Namibia win.
“We have won three of our last six games, we lost two against Sri Lanka. Even the two games that we lost, we were actually in the game for a long time, the inexperience or quality of the opposition took the game away from us. Sometimes you can hold your head high and say it’s fine, it hurts because we could have won 2-1 against Sri Lanka and 3-0 in this one (vs Namibia),” he said.
Zimbabwe warm up against Kenya and Nigeria at Harare Sports Club on Monday and Wednesday. Group B then opens for the Chevrons against Uganda on September 26 at the same venue, followed by Botswana a day later, and Tanzania on September 30.
