US women’s cricket side for Zimbabwe

THE United States Of America (USA) Cricket have confirmed that their national women’s team will tour Zimbabwe for a five-match One Day International (ODI) series against the Lady Chevrons mid next month.

With the venue for the series yet to be confirmed, the matches are, however, set to run from October 17 to 28.

Having only played two ODIs since it gained ODI status in 2022, the USA team will be looking to build on the momentum from the ODI series earlier this year in the UAE against Papua New Guinea and Scotland.

The forthcoming tour will mark USA’s second visit to Zimbabwe with the first being the 2021 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier which, however, ended prematurely due to Covid-19.

The Lady Chevrons and the USA have faced each other twice in 50-over cricket with both teams winning once. However, the two games were not considered as international matches at that time as the USA were still yet to gain ODI status.

It was in 2011 that the USA pulled off a memorable victory against Zimbabwe in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh.

The qualification match is the last game to have been played between the two nations to date.

In a statement from USA Cricket, their women’s national team head coach Hilton Moreeng said they are looking forward to a successful tour in Zimbabwe that will also help them develop their game in the longer version.

“We are looking forward to playing ODI cricket and challenge ourselves as a team to keep improving in this format. The longer format offers a different challenge for the team, however, the team shows a lot of promise and with the talented group of players we have, we are looking forward to a successful tour in Zimbabwe,” said Hilton.

The USA women’s national team will be facing a wounded Lady Chevrons who had a poor outing in the Capricorn Eagles Tri-Series that took place in Namibia mid-month.

The three-nation series ended with a youthful Lady Chevrons squad only winning once in the six matches that they played during their stay in Namibia. They narrowly won their opening game before going on to lose the other five.

The Lady Chevrons, who had nine Under-19 players in their squad, were competing against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the hosts, Namibia.

The former won the series.

USA Women’s national team tour of Zimbabwe schedule:
First ODI: Thursday, October 17; Second ODI: Sunday, October 20; Third ODI: Wednesday, October 23; Fourth ODI: Saturday, October, 26; Fifth ODI: Monday, October 28.
– @brandon_malvin