Zimbabwe ‘A’, Pakistan Shaheens square off in first four-dayer

THE stage is set for the start of the first four day match between Zimbabwe ‘A’ cricket team and Pakistan ‘A’ who are also known as Pakistan Shaheens which begins today at Kwekwe Sports Club.

The match is scheduled to run until Saturday and the Zimbabwean team that will take part in the series is made up of 17 players and they have been holding practice sessions at Harare Sports Club ahead of today’s opener.

The Zimbabwean squad is mostly made up of players who have had a feel of international cricket.

Chevrons’ batting coach, Stuart Matsikenyeri will be in charge of the side as the head coach while Douglas Hondo will be the bowling coach.

Eric Chauluka will be the team’s batting coach and Amato Machikicho is the team’s physiotherapist to complete the team’s officials.

The second four-day match is scheduled to take place from 10-13 May in Mutare and after the completion of the two red ball games, action will then move to Harare for the 50-over series pitting a Zimbabwe Select team against the tourists, with the first encounter pencilled in for Takashinga Cricket Club on May 17.

The rest of the matches will then be played at Harare Sports Club on May 19, 21, 23, 25 and 27 to round off a busy first five months of international cricket for Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe is using the series as part of their preparations for the upcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023.

The 10-team global event is set to take place from 18 June to 9 July 2023 in Harare and Bulawayo and the series against Pakistan ‘A’ will be Zimbabwe’s last ahead of the crunch qualifiers.

From the 10 teams scheduled to come to Zimbabwe, nine have been confirmed leaving just one vacant spot that will be filled by either South Africa or Ireland, however, the latter will have to whitewash Bangladesh to avoid going through the qualification process.

Last month, Asian Cup champions Sri Lanka were confirmed as the ninth team coming for the tournament after their hopes of directly booking their ticket to the World Cup went up in smoke after losing their three-match One Day International (ODI) series against New Zealand 2-0.

This marked the first time in 44 years that the Sri Lankan team will have to play qualifiers in order to earn their place in the World Cup.

USA, UAE, Scotland, Oman, Nepal, Netherlands, West Indies, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe are the nine teams confirmed to take part in the qualifiers.

Zimbabwe ‘A’ squad for four day matches against Pakistan ‘A’:
Faraz Akram, Jonathan Campbell, Tanaka Chivanga, Bradley Evans, Joylord Gumbie, Luke Jongwe, Roy Kaia, Wesley Madhevere, Tanunurwa Makoni, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Brandon Mavuta, Nyasha Mayavo, Tony Munyonga, Richmond Mutumbami, Dion Myers, Victor Nyauchi, Milton Shumba. – @brandon_malvin