Reliving the Chevrons heartbreak

Don Makanyanga

FOR the better part of Zimbabwe’s bowling innings in their decisive ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup qualifier against Scotland, Chevrons coach Dave Houghton cut a lone pensive figure in the Queens Sports Club dugout.

After his appointment to coach the Chevrons a year ago, Houghton’s main task was to lead Zimbabwe to the ODI World Cup scheduled for India in October.

The former national team captain also had to exorcise the ghost of 2018,
which saw the Chevrons missing out on qualification to the World Cup via a
painful defeat to the United Arab Emirates.

“We had a clear path in 2018 — we only had to win the last game, and we messed it up.

“We have got to make sure we still do the job (this time).

“My job was that we were going to win every game in this World Cup Qualifier,” said Houghton after the historic win over former champions West Indies.

A fine run in the group stages left the hosts with all the momentum going into the Super Six games in Bulawayo.

But the World Cup dream was dented on Sunday, when their qualifying chances were reduced by half following a comprehensive nine-wicket
defeat by pre-tournament favourites Sri Lanka.

And, just like in 2018, it meant they needed to win their last Super Six assignment to secure their place at the global ODI showpiece.

With all captains who opted to field first after winning the toss going on to win their games, some hope was restored when skipper Craig Ervine won the toss in the must-win tie.

Naturally, Ervine opted to field.

However, the batting track at Queens Sports Club on Tuesday appeared to favour the team that would bat first.

Unlike in other matches, Houghton rarely smiled during the bowling
innings.

Conversely, Chevrons bowling coach Steve Kirby was all smiles, as the hosts seemed in control of the game only until the last 10 overs when they allowed Scotland to score 74 runs.

Having to be the ones to bowl second, Scotland took advantage of the pitch conditions, which now favoured the bowling team, and dismantled the Zimbabwe top order, despite some
resistance from Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl.

By end of the day, it was déjà vu, as the hosts’ World Cup dream, just like in 2018, had been shattered for the second time in as many qualifiers and in similar circumstances.

Weird enough, even the score they were chasing to win — 235 — was similar to the 2018 target.

Houghton was devastated and the quartet of Sean Williams, Tendai Chatara, Raza and Ervine seemed traumatised for failing to play in their last World Cup.

The vociferous crowd at Queens Sports Club was silenced.

“It’s a very difficult pill to swallow,” said Ervine.

“It’s always nice to put those demons from 2018 behind us, and had we gotten over the line today, nobody would have been asking about that but, unfortunately, we didn’t.”

And for Williams, who broke records during the qualifiers, that came to naught in the end, and it left his wife, Chantelle Williams, heartbroken.

She later took to Twitter, posting a picture of herself being consoled and it had the caption of a broken heart
emoji.

Raza also chose social media to offer an apology on Facebook two days after the heart-breaking moment.

“Devastated, hurt, broken, shattered, in pain and there are so many words that describe what we, Chevrons, are feeling right now.

“We are sorry that we couldn’t get the job done and made the dream a reality and I think it’s only natural to feel all those emotions,” he said.

But the manner in which Zimbabwe have become a competitive side also won them Raza’s admiration.

“I am incredibly proud of this team and how far we have come in a year.

“I am so proud of how we wore our hearts on our sleeves.

“I am incredibly proud of our fans for making us believe and giving us so much love and respect.

“I am so proud of how far we
have come as an organisation,” Raza added.