Online Reporter
Eddie Chikamhi
Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE are taking the defeat to West Indies in their opening Super Eight match of the ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup as a reality check.
But, they will need to be a bit smarter ahead of an equally challenging task against hosts and defending champions India tomorrow.
Chevrons coach, Justin Sammons, reckoned tough lessons were learnt after his side crushed to their first defeat at the tournament; ending a fairytale run that had grabbed the attention of the cricket world.
On Monday, they met the West Indies at their most ruthless and suffered a massive 107-run loss at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
For a side that had shown signs of progress, the defeat was demoralising.
But instead of burying their heads in the sand, Sammons believes the Chevrons have to grab lessons from Monday’s defeat.
“Yeah, I think we know the way India is going to come out, and it’s going to be very similar to the way West Indies approached their innings.
“They’re not going to hold back.
“So, there’ll be good learnings from that (defeat) and how we deal with that under pressure, at the moment how do we stay calm and just think on our feet and also just try and change things up a little bit, disrupt the rhythm of the batters.
“I think we were a bit, if I can say, predictable (against West Indies). I think we can be a little bit smarter in that regard.”
The Zimbabweans surprised all and sundry at this tournament with a dazzling script laced with victories over Australia and co-hosts Sri Lanka to finish top of Group B.
But they had a bad day in the office in all departments on Monday. They were inconsistent with the ball and the sloppiness on the field contradicted their brilliance in the group stages.
This also saw dangerman Shimron Hetmyer dropped twice before his record half-century powered the Windies to the highest score at the tournament, 254/6.
Mathew Masinge