Tinashe Kusema-Zimpapers Sports Hub
JUSTIN Sammons cut a lone figure as the Chevrons’ team bus made its way back to the hotel shortly after the opening T20 of their three-match series in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday night.
The Zimbabwe senior cricket team head coach had just watched haplessly as the Chevrons went down to Afghanistan by 37 runs in arguably one of their more disappointing displays with both bat and ball.
The result, Zimbabwe’s 20th loss to their Asian counterparts in T20 cricket, was one of the rare occasions where they were let down with both bat and ball and, practically, handed Afghanistan the easy win.
“Yeah, it’s so disappointing, we are absolutely gutted,” he said.
“At 54 for 4 after 10 overs, we were in control, but we let it slip away from us. I mean, they scored 120-odd runs in the next 10 overs.
“And even if they bat well and they got only 100, I think chasing 150 was probably achievable, and we were probably going to get there as the approach, in that scenario, is different,” said Sammons.
The match itself was a topsy-turvy affair as Zimbabwe started well with the ball, led by seamers Brad Evans and debutant Ernest Masuku, but took their foot off the pedal in the middle, something Afghanistan took full advantage of.
Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai brought to life the old cricket cliché as he seemed to bat on a different pitch compared to everyone else.
He entered the game with the score at 66 for 5 in the 12th over, on a pitch that was exceedingly slow and grippy, and took the conditions out of the equation, muscling a 20-ball fifty.
Though Afghanistan were then bowled out with one ball to spare in their innings, they had found their way to 177, which proved to be more than enough as Zimbabwe’s batters struggled to 140 all-out in the chase, on a pitch that had stayed slow throughout the game.
Rashid Khan, who took Afghanistan to their above-par total with his unorthodox cameo of 30 runs off 10 balls in the death overs, returned with the ball to pick up 2 for 20.
Ahmadzai and Rashid’s all-round acumen sealed a comfortable 37-run win for Afghanistan, handing them a 20-2 record in the format against Zimbabwe.
However, as the two teams head into the second match this afternoon, Sammons has asked his charges to take a leaf out of their opponents’ playbook, showing a little more aggression and ruthlessness.
After all, that was the biggest difference between the two sides as the trio of Ahmadzai, Khan and Shahidullah took the game out of Zimbabwe’s grasp.
Shahidullah had been constructing a patient innings for Afghanistan as wickets fell at the other end and ended up with a handy 46 runs off 42 balls by the time he was out in the 17th over.
But at the other end, Ahmadzai unleashed carnage, constantly stepping down the track, using lofted shots and sweeps to great effect, with the pair putting up a 61-run partnership in just 4.5 overs.
By contrast, the Zimbabwe batters failed to get out of the gates, with as many as six batters failing to reach double figures.
In the end, only Innocent Kaia and Ryan Burl managed to make any meaningful contribution with 24 runs off 26 balls and 32 off 26, respectively.
“With the bat, we dug ourselves into a hole once again in the first 10 overs, asking too much of ourselves in the second 10,” said Sammons.
“This was very disappointing.
“From your top three batters, getting 54 from 60 balls while chasing 180 or 170 is not good enough.
“Obviously, they swing it up front with the ball, so it is a little bit tough.
“And Afghanistan have got high-quality spinners, the best in the world, coming in.
“So we had to be clear in terms of our game plan and execution.
“I think one or two of the batters, through discussions that they had, just looked like they didn’t stick with the plan at all.
“And we left too much for ourselves to do at the end.
“Going forward into the next match, I think we have got to really focus on trying to apply caution but do more.
“We can’t wait for them to make mistakes. We have got to be more ruthless, more clinical in our execution,” he said.
In terms of changes, Sammons may be tempted to tinker with the team, maybe introduce Blessing Muzarabani into the fray.
Contrary to the initial news going into the first match, the Zimbabwe lead bowler was not injured.
Instead, the lanky seamer was rested as the 29-year-old is a crucial part of Zimbabwe’s Test plans.
Upon the conclusion of the three-match T20 series, the two nations are also going to square off in two Test matches.
“There’s no issue there,” said Sammons, in terms of Muzarabani missing the first match. “It was just purely a load management issue as we build up to the Test matches next week.
“You know, he has played a lot of games this year for us, and so it was purely about making sure that he’s fully rested and ready for the Test matches.
“It really was about him managing or us managing his load,” said Sammons.
Zimbabwe and Afghanistan meet this afternoon in the second T20 of their three-match series.
The match starts at 4.30pm.
They will then square up again in the third and final T20 on Sunday, after which Zimbabwe’s tour will wrap up the UAE visit with two Test matches, slated for November 5-9 and November 13-17.
