Zim take on Australia

defending champions Australia in today’s Cricket World Cup clash.
Zimbabwe have a clutch of spinners, Raymond Price, Prosper Utseya and Gra-eme Cremer, who are capable of exerting pressure.
Butcher is aware that Australia have struggled against spin on slow pitches, lo-sing both of their warm-up matches agai-nst India and South Africa.
“We know spinners are our best bow-lers. That is going to be our strategy and the Australians also know it.
“There is a chance of a spinner opening the bowling, but we have to bowl well,” said Butcher.
The tactic was used yesterday when New Zealand off-spinner Nathan McCullum opened the bowling against Kenya in Chennai with four overs yielding 15 runs.
Englishman Butcher said Zimbabwe’s bowlers needed to restrict Australia to a total of 300 or below.
“If it goes beyond 300, it’d be very tough for us,” said Butcher, who added that his unheralded team will need be at their best to stretch the champions.
“Probability is if both sides play their best cricket, the formbook suggests that we come second,” said Butcher, on the eve of his team’s day-night match.
Australia, eyeing a record fourth successive World Cup title, have won 25 of their 27 one-day internationals against Zimbabwe.
Their lone defeat came in the first game played between the two sides in the 1983 World Cup in England while one match was abandoned due to rain.
Australia have also not lost a match in the last two World Cups in South Africa and the West Indies under Ricky Ponting.
“The longer the winning run is the closer it might be to coming to an end. It may not be us to stop them but someone has to. We have to prepare as well as we can. We are focused,” said Butcher.
Meanwhile, Australia launch their Cricket World Cup bid against Zimbabwe without their usual favourites tag but banking on fearsome pace duo Brett Lee and Shaun Tait to fire them to a fourth successive title.
Australia have lost just one of their 27 one-day internationals against their opponents with their lone defeat at the 1983 World Cup.
Australia, victorious in 1999, 2003 and 2007, have not lost a single game in the past two World Cups in South Africa and the West Indies under skipper Ponting.
Although they have lost some of their power in recent years following the retirements of Shane Warne, Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath, they are still the top-ranked side in the one-day game.
And they come into the tournament buoyed by a 6-1 hammering of England, which went some way towards easing the pain of a thumping Ashes defeat.
Paceman Lee, who played a major role in Australia’s one-day series win over England, taking 11 wickets, said he and Tait could still wreak havoc despite the spin-friendly wickets in the sub-continent.
“I don’t see any problem with the pace which we have and playing on the slow wickets. At the end of the day, the ball is still coming at 150 km/h through the air,” said Lee, who has impressed in the Indian Premier League Twenty20 competition.
“The pitch is a massive part of the equation. But if you have a bowler like Tait bowling around 160 km/h at the batsmen’s toes, it doesn’t matter where you are playing. It is still going to hit the batsmen on the full.”
Australia, who struggled against spin in their practice matches, are likely to face another spin test as Zimbabwe have good slow bowlers in Price, Utseya and Cremer.
They will be relying on Shane Watson and Brad Haddin to lay the foundations for big totals.
All-rounder Watson is the man in form and is known for his hard and clean hitting, having scored 306 in six one-dayers against England with a hundred and two half-centuries, while Haddin has provided valuable support.
The onus will be on Ponting and Michael Clarke to provide solidity in the middle order in the absence of the injured Michael Hussey.
The pair’s form ahead of the tournament augurs well for Australia, with Ponting scoring two successive half-centuries in warm-up games against India and South Africa and Clarke one.
Zimbabwe, who lost a one-day series in Bangladesh recently, will be keen to put in a solid batting performance.
They hope recent batting tips from West Indies great Brian Lara will stand them in good stead.
“He (Lara) shared his experience with us and it helped us a lot. Hopefully, we will be able to put it into practice,” Zimbabwean captain Elton Chigumbura said.
Zimbabwe batting coach Grant Flower said troubled Zimbabwe were heading in the right direction.
“We’ve had our troubles with some of us leaving the country. We left under not the greatest circumstances but hopefully that is all in the past,” he was quoted as saying on cricinfo.
“Both parties probably made some mistakes but that’s life, nothing’s perfect. Things are moving in the right direction.”
“We’ve got some good people there, and the players are playing some decent cricket. Quite a few of the guys have played quite a few one-day internationals now, so there’s quite a bit of experience. We’re expecting some good things at the World Cup,” he added.
Rival squads, officials and pitch conditions for the Cricket World Cup match between Australia and Zimbabwe at the Sardar Patel Stadium today
Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Michael Clarke, David Hussey, Cameron White, Tim Paine, Steve Smith, John Hastings, Mitchell Johnson, Jason Krejza, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, Doug Bollinger, Callum Ferguson.
Zimbabwe: Elton Chigumbura (captain), Regis Chakabva, Charles Coventry, Graeme Cremer, Terry Duffin, Craig Ervine, Greg Lamb, Shingirai Masakadza, Christopher Mpofu, Tinashe Panyangara, Raymond Price, Tatenda Taibu, Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya, Sean Williams.
Pitch conditions: The wicket is expected to favour batsmen, but quality bowlers can also leave a mark. The side bowling second may find it difficult to grip the ball because of the evening dew.
Umpires: Asoka de Silva (SRI) and Richard Kettleborough (ENG)
TV umpire: Amish Saheba (IND)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)
Match start: 11am
Head-to-head record for Australia and Zimbabwe ahead of today’s Cricket World Cup clash at the Sardar Patel Stadium
Matches: 27
Australia wins: 25
Zimbabwe wins: 1
No result: 1
First meeting: June 9, 1983, Trent Bridge – Zimbabwe won by 13 runs
Last meeting: May 29, 2004, Harare – Australia won by eight wickets. – AFP.