Online Reporter
Brandon Moyo , Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE’S senior men’s cricket team head coach, Justin Sammons, has backed South Africa to win the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia. The highly anticipated match begins on 11 June at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.
Sammons, a South African himself, was appointed Chevrons’ head coach last June. He recently coached Zimbabwe in a four-day warm-up match against his home country at Arundel Castle, a fixture South Africa used to prepare for the WTC final. The match was disrupted by rain yesterday.
The Chevrons coach believes South Africa has a strong chance of lifting the Test mace. He acknowledged both teams are on equal footing, possessing formidable bowling attacks. However, Sammons predicts the batting performance will ultimately decide the winner.
“I think South Africa have a great chance of taking that World Test Championship final. Two evenly matched teams. It’s going to be a really good game and ultimately it will be decided by the batting unit that can fare best against two quality bowling attacks,” Sammons told SABC Sport.
The former Proteas batting consultant also expressed his excitement at facing his native country during the warm-up match, which was played behind closed doors with nature as the only spectator.
The match not only served to fine-tune South Africa ahead of the WTC final but also acted as a curtain-raiser for the eagerly anticipated two-match Test series between Zimbabwe and South Africa, set to take place at Queens Sports Club later this month.
“The four days against South Africa offer our team an amazing opportunity to prepare for what promises to be an exciting and challenging winter, with two Tests against the same team and another two against New Zealand.
“So the guys are really looking forward to the challenge and obviously the learnings that will come from it,” said Sammons.
This year, Zimbabwe are scheduled to play 11 Test matches, the joint-highest alongside Australia. Prior to this, the most Tests they had played in a calendar year since their return to the format in 2011 was six, back in 2013. For Sammons, this is a welcome development.
“It is good for this group and for Zimbabwean cricket in general that there’s so much Test cricket available for them this year and obviously towards the end of last year. It’s where your fundamentals are tested, and as a young group of players, it’s where you’re going to take the greatest amount of learnings,” he said.
Meanwhile, in a significant blow, batsman Ben Curran has been ruled out for four to six weeks due to a fractured hand, sustained on Wednesday after being hit by a Kagiso Rabada delivery. The injury, confirmed by X-ray, is not expected to require surgery but sidelines him from the upcoming Test series against South Africa. This highly anticipated series will be the first Test encounter between the two nations in eight years, since a four-day match in 2017. — @brandon_malvin
