Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema, [email protected]
BY his own lofty standards, Zimbabwe’s T20 skipper Sikandar Raza is yet to stamp his authority on the ongoing Bangladesh series.
While the Chevrons have completely dominated their Asian opponents, their talisman has been relatively quiet as names like Richard Ngarava, Brad Evans and even Innocent Kaia have hogged the limelight.
The trio has taken turns to lead the charge as Zimbabwe convincingly won the one-off Test by an innings and 85 runs and later took the One-Day Internationals 2-1.
And as the Chevrons look to seal the T20 series when they play Bangladesh in the second of the three-match series at Queens Sports Club this afternoon, Zimbabwe coach Justin Sammons has backed his skipper to come good and stamp his authority on the game once more.
After receiving an exemption from the Test, Raza arrived just in time for the white-ball leg of Bangladesh’s visit from the Vitality Blast T20 competition a fortnight ago.
Unfortunately, all he has had to show for his efforts is 45 runs and a wicket from three innings in the ODIs.
The 40-year-old then made a quick-fire 20 runs off 18 balls and appeared a bit costly with the ball during
Zimbabwe’s 32-run victory over Bangladesh in the first T20 on Wednesday.
He finished wicketless, and his four overs went for 33 runs during that emphatic win by the Chevrons.
Sammons, however, has refused to panic and believes that Raza has impacted the game in other ways.
“I’m not worried about Raza at all,” said Sammons.
“Raza is an experienced player and four games is not a big enough sample size to panic. He has still had an impact and T20 cricket is all about impact. He didn’t necessarily have impact with the ball, but he still did the job of making sure that he was under the asking rate.
“He also had an impact with the bat and I think that’s the key thing there.
“So I was happy with the impact that he has had,” he said.
Zimbabwe have a chance to inflict yet another blow on their opponents when they take to the park this afternoon at Queens Sports Club.
The Chevrons carry a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, and a win today will see them seal yet another series during Bangladesh’s visit. This comes after an all-round performance saw the Chevrons stroll to a comfortable 32-run win over the Asians in the first match. It is a result that left the coach rather pleased. “Good performance,” said Sammons.
“That was a good, key performance.
“I think it wasn’t easy with the bat, but I think the start really set the tone.
“That start was crucial in the context of the game, and if you look at the power play, it was probably the biggest difference in the game.
“The way we started with the bat, Tadiwanashe Marumani really had an impact again along with Brian Bennett. It was a little bit tougher through the middle overs, but I think the fact that Ryan Burl managed to bat through till the end gave us a set batter in there. That allowed Brad Evans to finish the way he did,” he said.
Zimbabwe have made game-winning contributions, but one of the names that has really stood out is Evans.
Evans was part of Zimbabwe’s four-prong pace attack — alongside Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani and Newman
Nyamhuri — that dominated the Test. They shared all of Zimbabwe’s 20 wickets during the innings and 85-run win.
The 29-year-old all-rounder was then named Player-of-the-Series during the ODIs, scoring 111 runs, which included back-to-back 50s, and taking five wickets.
“Brad Evans has been brilliant in terms of balancing the side,” said Sammons.
“From the very first game he played against Afghanistan in the Test last year, he has made a huge difference to this team. And I’m really happy with the way he’s going,” he said.
Evans will be one of the players counted on to lead the charge as the Chevrons look to seal the series.
Sammons also revealed that Muzarabani will indeed be available after the lanky seamer appeared to be in some discomfort during Bangladesh’s chase on Wednesday.
“Blessing Muzarabani just took a ball on the shin but he is ok,” said the Chevrons gaffer. There is nothing wrong and we don’t have any injury issues. It’s just a little bruise and that’s all part of the game.
“I am very happy with the performance from the last match and, ideally, would prefer to keep improving in terms of having an impact with the bat as individuals.
“It is not always going to be easy and it’s just about finding ways within your game plan to make sure we continue scoring and taking wickets,” he said.
