Zim Under-19 get their mojo

Tinashe Kusema

Zimpapers Sports Hub

IT is funny how quickly momentum can shift, sometimes even in the blink of an eye!

After two rounds of action, the Zimbabwe Under-19 cricket team were facing the prospect of an early exit from the Youth One Day International Tri-series.

Their first two matches were washed out due to persistent rains and, for most onlookers, it looked like the weather had come to their aid on both counts.

They had bowled out for 90 runs in their first match against Afghanistan and set the insurmountable total of 346 runs for victory by Pakistan before the rains came to their aid on both accounts.

In their first full match, however, Elton Chigumbura’s men were bowled out for 185 runs before a near-perfect bowling and fielding display saw Zimbabwe grab one of the more unlikely victories over Afghanistan by 19 runs at Sunrise Sports Club on New Year’s eve.

The victory saw Zimbabwe become the first team to book their place in Wednesday’s final and, more importantly, shift all the momentum towards the hosts.

Now, the Zimbabwe Under-19 camp is singing a totally different tune as they prepare for back-to-back clashes against Pakistan in the coming days.

The two teams will wrap up their round robin fixtures when they clash tomorrow at Sunrise Sports Club.

They will then meet again on Wednesday in the final of the Youth ODI Tri-series at Old Hararians, wrapping up what has been a topsy-turvy tournament for the hosts.

Pakistan sealed their place in the final after beating Afghanistan by 133 runs at Sunrise Sports Club yesterday, and reigning Asia Cup Under-19 champions will go into both matches as clear favourites.

However, Zimbabwe have a sense of renewed belief as assistant coach Norbert Manyande noted that ‘nerves’ appeared to be the team’s biggest weakness.

“I think nerves have been our biggest undoing,” said Manyande.

“We don’t play as much international cricket as these guys, so the nerves crept in a bit hence the start we had to the tournament.

“Now I think, the nerves are getting settled and they are becoming a lot more confident in how they approach their games and how they execute the game plan,” he said.

The Zimbabwe Under-19 assistant coach feels the win over Afghanistan has been the turning point, both for the tournament and, possibly even, the World Cup. He even played down the shoddy batting performances in both the rained off match, where they were bowled out for 90 runs, and then the 185 runs target set in the win against Afghanistan.

“For us, the win was fantastic.

“The 185 runs are not ideal and, obviously, we would have wanted more. We were aiming for maybe 250 or 280 thereabouts.

“But one, obviously, takes what they get and the boys have to defend whatever we score.

“The win has given them more belief that they are here to compete and they will compete for a good place.

“We showed glimpses of what we can do and I’m positive it was not even close to our best game.

“As it pertains to the batting, I don’t think we would say we are worried.

“We have got guys that have scored hundreds in this team and we have that belief that the guys can still score those runs.

“It’s just a matter of understanding that and keeping the nerves, especially at this stage that we are.

“As the coaching staff, we believe there’s a lot in the tank that hasn’t been exposed.

“So, we are looking forward to a game where we actually play to our full potential and then we can see what we are capable of,” he said.