Chevrons sink to a new low!

EVERYTHING that could have gone wrong has gone wrong for the Chevrons.
Today, they find themselves in yet another precarious position heading into Tuesday’s second One-Day-International against minnows Afghanistan.
The fact that Afghanistan leads the five-match series 1-0 is just the tip of the never-ending story that has been spiralling down the doldrums of international cricket this year.
Results have been few and far in-between and the few strides they have made in the bowling department have been eclipsed only by their dissappointing batting.
With Sean Williams, one the top performers for the Chevrons this year injured, the team’s continued struggle with spin was once again at the fore as the visitors succumbed to a 49-run loss to Afghanistan on Friday.
Two halves of contrasting nature brought out all the elements associated with the low-scoring affair that was the first ODI.
Set a mere 131 for victory, Zimbabwe was bundled out for 82 runs.
Playing on a slow deck that sprung to life under lights, Mirwais Ashraf, the seamer, opened the flood gates with two early blows before the spinners led by Amir Hamza dismantled a nervous middle order with point precision.
What was to be a regulation chase turned into a mess as Zimbabwe was reduced to 12 for 3 even before the supper break.
Zimbabwe needed the industry of their captain Elton Chigumbura and the experience of Sikandar Raza to steer them out of troubled waters, but Afghanistan’s spinners strangled the batsmen so well that they were forced to play the glory shot a little too often.
On a surface that didn’t aid stroke making, the ploy boomeranged on Zimbabwe and they failed to even last 31 overs.
While Hamza picked up four wickets, two of which were courtesy deliveries that spun across the face of the bat to hit the stumps, Mohammad Nabi’s loopy offspin yielded two scalps, including Chigumbura’s.
Raza’s mix-up with Malcolm Waller had both batsmen stranded at the same end, looking helplessly at each other as Afghanistan pumped their fists in joy and summed up a game where their batting fragility was ruthlessly exposed.
Under the circumstances, Noor Ali Zadran’s 63 proved to be gold dust even as the other Afghanistan batsmen were victims of their own diffidence.
They started like a bullet train but finished like a two-stroke engine that ran out of oil.
Fifty nine runs were added in the first 10 overs, but they lost the last seven wickets for 38 to be bowled out in 38.5 overs after electing to bat.
A bulk of the damage was done by Graeme Cremer, who finished with five for 20.
Cremer could have hoped to put his feet up and soak in the moment that brought him a second five-wicket haul in ODIs, but the manner in which Zimbabwe’s top order caved in meant he could not.
Now the onus will be on Cremer again to deliver the goods with the ball and pray that gaffer Dav Whatmore somehow manages to find solutions to combat Zimbabwe’s weakness in playing under day and night conditions.— Cricinfo/sport reporter