Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema
Zimpapers Sports Hub
THERE was an air of relief as Justin Sammons walked into the media room at Harare Sports Club with a huge smile on his face on Monday.
The Zimbabwe gaffer had just watched his charges pull off a Houdini Act to beat Bangladesh by 25 runs, taking the first One Day International cricket match.
The Chevrons literally grabbed victory from the jaws of defeat after wobbling to 141 runs in 37 overs, largely thanks to the heroics of skipper Richard Ngarava and Newman Nyamhuri.
Zimbabwe’s pace attack then went about defending that total as Ngarava, Nyamhuri, Blessing Muzarabani, and Brad Evans combined to skittle out the visitors for 116 runs.
Zimbabwe now lead the three-match series 1-0, going into the second ODI at the same venue tomorrow.
However, for all the talk of Zimbabwe’s dominance with the ball and Bangladesh’s collapse, the day belonged to one man.
It was Nyamhuri’s day as the 20-year-old had a great outing with the bat, ball, and in the field.
Nyamhuri started off the day by scoring a career-best 33 runs off 51 balls after coming in at number nine.
His 63-run, 81-ball ninth-wicket partnership alongside his skipper Ngarava saved Zimbabwe’s blushes as the pair took the Chevrons from a precarious position of 70 runs for eight to what turned out to be an unassailable 141 runs. The young paceman then took two catches in the deep, the first of them an agile effort while tip-toeing on the fine-leg boundary.
Nyamhuri also broke Bangladesh’s 49-run fourth-wicket stand between Nurul Hasan and Towhid Hridoy to open the floodgates for a memorable win.
Sammons, however, said he was not surprised by Nyamhuri’s feat.
“He has got plenty of character, you know, he will stand up to the battle.
“He’s going to get it wrong at some point since he is still very young.
“He is 20 years old, he’s going to get it wrong, and that is why we, obviously, have to be patient with him.
“But certainly we want him to go out there and just be free.
“We tell him to just go out there, express himself, bowl as quickly as he can.
“The way he played today with a bit of confidence, a bit of character, a little bit of fight.
“He has been impressive,” Sammons said.
Sammons was all smiles as he chronicled his time with the Chevrons and instilled a winning culture within the team.
He recently received an endorsement from his paymasters with his contract extended.
Zimbabwe Cricket extended Sammons and his technical team’s stay while making a raft of changes to their other coaching structures.
Among the key decisions is the appointment of legendary former West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh as Zimbabwe senior men’s substantive bowling coach after serving as bowling consultant during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
The Board also endorsed a succession-planning initiative that will see former Zimbabwe international Chamu Chibhabha understudy team manager Dilip Chouhan.
Chibhabha, who is currently team manager of the Zimbabwe ‘A’ and Eagles teams, is expected to gain administrative experience within the senior national team structures.
Former Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura was also retained as head coach of the Zimbabwe Under-19 men’s team, while Donald Tiripano was promoted to assistant coach (bowling). The news has come as some relief for Sammons.
“We went through some tough days last year, around this time, and I believe it was a steep learning curve,” said Sammons.
