Zimbabwe take heart from ODI performance

series, but Zimbabwe will certainly take heart from beating Bangladesh in this ODI showdown.
There will be tougher teams to come, with Pakistan coming in next week, and New Zealand to follow later, and by the end of those tours, the Zimbabweans will have a better idea of where they stand in world cricket.
We have always competed against Bangladesh but there was a period, in recent past, when the world and the Bangladeshi cricketers really felt they had got better than us.
But in the ODI series was already 3-0 by the time the bandwagon moved here and the one-off Test had certainly been secured in comprehensive fashion by a Zimbabwean team returning to the big league for the first time in six years.
There was a sense of complacency, now that the series had been secured, in the last two ODIs and coach Alan Butcher was right to feel disappointed by the way his players reacted to winning the series.
A 5-0 whitewash would have hurt Bangladesh and given us a spring in our step ahead of tougher battles to come and the Zimbabwean cricketers will look back to the last two ODIs, if they suddenly find themselves struggling for form, as the period when they lost their concentration.
“We weren’t on holiday,” said Butcher. “Bangladesh came back and played well in the third match in Harare.
“We knew from playing against them in the past that they had more to offer than they showed in the first two games.”
“They may have been complacent, thinking they would roll us over and then before they knew it, they lost the series.
“I am disappointed to lose the last two games (though), it has taken a bit of the gloss off.
“There are still things we need to work on to keep moving forward. We played as a collective unit.”
In Harare, Yes!
In Bulawayo, definitely NO!
Maybe the absence of seamer Brian Vitori, rested for bigger battles to give his injury more time to heal, was telling in Bulawayo.
For Vitori was the destroyer-in-chief of Bangladesh with five wickets in his ODI and five more wickets in his second ODI.
“Brian Vitori bowled magnificently in the first two games and tore their batting apart,” said Butcher.
“He wasn’t very successful in the third game and missed the last two with a niggle.
“There have been a few outstanding performances, of course Brian Vitori and the experienced players contributing in most games.”
Skipper Brendan Taylor scored a century, in a losing cause, in the fourth ODI but his contributions, generally, in the limited overs contest was minimal.
Vusi Sibanda continued to shine as an opener, in both ODIs and Tests, and – crucially – Zimbabwe found a new ball bowling unit they believe could make a big difference for battles to come.
Zimbabwe Cricket will feel happy with the way things have turned out and the mission should now also shift to an aggressive marketing strategy to try and bring as many fans as possible to the matches.
The players need to feel the voice of their fans and the Test matches, in particular, were played in virtually empty stadiums.
Bangladesh coach Stuart Law said he felt the time had come for a review of the game’s structures in that country.
“I understand Bangladesh are very passionate about their cricket,” he said.
“They do things differently and I think sometimes it might not be to the benefit of the cricket team.
“What’s happened over the years obviously hasn’t worked, because Bangladesh hasn’t lifted off the bottom (of the rankings.)
“I know I’m going to upset a lot of people when I mention these things, but if we really think hard about it, a lot of things have got to change. Not just from the players’ side, but from all walks of life relating to Bangladesh cricket. It’s not a negative or harsh thing to try something different to make the boys better and start climbing that ladder.”