Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema-Zimpapers Sports Hub
JUSTIN SAMMONS has probably had the most peaceful sleep over the last couple of days than he had since his appointment as Chevron’s head coach a little over a year ago.
At the time of his appointment, Zimbabwe were at their lowest ebb and forced to watch Uganda line up against some of the world’s best cricket nations at the 2024 T20 World Cup co-hosted by the United States and West Indies.
It was the third out of a possible four World Cups Zimbabwe had missed — One Day Internationals and T20Is collectively — and they would be forced again to go through a qualifying tournament for the next edition.
Sammons’ resume itself did not inspire too much confidence from the pessimists as he had mostly worked with Cricket South Africa’s high-performance unit, a few domestic sides in South Africa and part of the South Africa men’s technical team as a batting consultant between 2021 and 2023.
But that was then.
Now, Sammons and his Chevrons’ unit are headed to Sri Lanka and India for the 2026 T20 World Cup.
After a few rough patches here and there and, arguably, Zimbabwe’s busiest calendar year in a long time, the Chevrons are starting to show signs of life.
Brian Bennett is arguably the find of the year and offers his team starts in almost all three formats.
He has found great sparring partners at the top, from Ben Curran and Tadiwanashe Marumani. There still seems to be gas left in the tank from senior statesmen Brendan Taylor and Sean Williams.
Ryan Burl is quickly developing a reputation of being Mr Consistent.
Tashinga Musekiwa and Tinotenda Maposa are future stars in the making.
It stands with reason why Sammons was all smiles as he addressed the media shortly after watching Zimbabwe clinch the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifiers tournament courtesy of a seven-wicket victory over Namibia at Harare Sports Club over the weekend.
The win ensured that Zimbabwe finished the tournament as the only unbeaten side and ensured that Zimbabwe hosts Afghanistan later this month with some momentum under their wings.
“100 percent, it’s really pleasing,” said Sammons on his team’s unbeaten finish.
“Obviously, the big one was the semi-finals and there was a lot of pressure going into that match and the final itself.
“However, the way that we handled the pressure was brilliant and very pleasing.
“It’s a good feeling,” he said.
Pressure and the ability to handle it, has been one of the Chevrons’ biggest weaknesses, whether it’s winning games they should win, exorcising their demons or simply crossing the line and closing out games.
However, during the qualifiers, Zimbabwe managed to tick every box and went about their business with some style.
They opened up the tournament by avenging the five-wicket loss to Uganda back in 2023 and never looked back.
Tanzania, Botswana, Kenya and most recently, Namibia were amongst their victims on the road to the title and, most importantly, 2026 T20 World Cup qualification.
Bennett was named Player and Batter of the Tournament after scoring three half-centuries and a century.
For his match-winning unbeaten 74 off 61 balls against Namibia, Tadiwanashe Marumani was named Player of the Match for the final while Chevrons skipper Sikandar Raza received an appreciation accolade for becoming the No. 1 all-rounder in ODI cricket.
For Sammons, the run the Chevrons are currently on is a result of months of hard work and plenty of competitive cricket.
It has built some belief and cohesion into the team leaving the gaffer in awe of how his boys have handled the pressure, negative publicity, the good and the bad times.
“Winning the tournament is massive, as it instils self-belief into the boys,” he said.
“We have been through tough times, played against a lot of tough opposition and we are starting to play really good cricket.
“Being able to get over the line in the final and close out games is important from a self-belief point of view.
“The guys can actually see that what they have been doing and the work they have been putting in behind the scenes is starting to pay off. “So I think definitely confidence and self-belief is a huge takeaway from the tournament. “Now, we just have to keep doing what we have been doing. The work we are putting in is excellent and the way we are trying to play the game is right now.
“And I think they are seeing the rewards to that.
“We just have to keep drilling in those good habits that we are trying to form from a mindset point of view and skill point of view.
“I know we have got Afghanistan 3T20s coming up next, which will be brilliant because we know the quality side they are.
“They will really test us and then, hopefully, we get some more cricket leading into that World Cup because that, I think is usually important.
