Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema
Zimpapers Sports Hub
CHEVRONS coach Justin Sammons is reflecting on what was generally a successful series against Bangladesh in which they won the Test and ODI battles but lost the T20I finale.
Zimbabwe crushed the Tigers inside three days in the Test by an innings and 85 runs, before taking the ODIs 2-1.
“Yeah, overall, I thought the tour was a success,” said Sammons.
“I think the big one, or the big two, is where a huge amount of our focus and preparations went. That was the Test.
“We had not played any Test cricket for a very long time and it was crucial that we began the series on a good note.
“The ODIs, as well, were another format we looked at, especially with the World Cup coming soon.
“A lot of fundamental work done throughout this off-season or pre-season went into those formats and we managed to get convincing wins.
“The effort and hard work paid off in those two longer formats and, as such, I see the series as a success.
“I am, however, a bit disappointed that we finished the way we did.
“But once again, it does give us areas to keep working on, which we know we need to do,” he said.
Bangladesh’s four-wicket win on Sunday spoiled Chevrons’ T20 skipper Sikandar Raza’s milestone match.
He became the most-capped Zimbabwean international with 314 appearances across all formats.
“Yeah, a rather disappointing performance,” said the Chevrons gaffer.
“At the end of the day, there are two areas that have let us down throughout the series.
“The first one is the catching.
“Had we held our catches, it would have been a totally different game.
“The second one is our ability to finish off the innings with the bat.
“We only picked up 34 runs in the last five overs when we were probably looking for 50-plus.
“That is a 15-run swing, which would have made a big difference in the game.”
Sammons, however, believes that there are some positives to take away from the loss and the series as a whole.
“The bowling has been superb from the seamers, with Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani, in particular, incredible all series,” he said.
“The way Brad Evans finished off the innings with the ball was really good and a big positive in comparison to the second game.
“He took his lessons and he moved forward and it was great to see.
“We also showed a lot of fight and resilience.
“The way they kept fighting until the very end was obviously a huge positive,” said Sammons.
Now with the Bangladesh series in the rearview mirror, the Chevrons have a short turnaround before they face India.
The reigning T20 World Champions arrived in the country on Sunday evening, hours after Zimbabwe’s four-wicket loss to Bangladesh.
Zimbabwe and India are scheduled to square off in a short three-match T20 series, the series begins on Thursday, with the second and third T20s slated for Saturday and Sunday.
All three matches will be held at Harare Sports Club.
India brought a young and experimental squad for their short tour, with Shreyas Iyer taking over as captain. Several uncapped players have been thrown into the mix and Sanju Samson has been left out.
The headline name in the squad is Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the 15-year-old opener who became India’s youngest-ever international earlier this month against England, breaking a record that had belonged to Sachin Tendulkar.
Mathew Masinge