Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Best team in the world?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Best team in the world?

    In 2007, ICC president Ray Mali claimed that Zimbabwe's young side could top the world rankings in 3 years having watched them put in some spirited performances against South Africa. Although this far-fetched prophecy has not come true it is clear that as these young players come of age, Zimbabwean cricket is on the up. They return to the test area this year after a 6 year, self imposed absence.
    This is my attempt to guide zim through this difficult process and to not lose every game ad I fear they will in reality! Perhaps one day they will become the world's best side!

    My first game in charge is none other than the return to test cricket, a single test match against Bangladesh. We can't afford to lose this one, as we are currently ranked above b'desh in the test championship despite our long absence! I initially played on normal and suffered a crushing defeat by an inninngs and 213 runs. Realizing that this was the worst team I was going to face and not wanting to just play defeat after defeat, I chose easy mode to make us a bit more competitive...

  • #2
    Here is my squad for the test:


    As many of you will propably not be too familiar with zimbabwean cricket i'll briefly introduce each player:

    Brendan Taylor- The newly appointed captain is propably the most talented player in the side, with 3 ODI centuries

    Hamilton Masakadza- An expierenced opener who averaged 71.00 in the domestic first class competition this year

    Tatenda Taibu- Wicket keeper and former captain, Taibu is propably the only other world class player in the side alongside Taylor

    Craig Ervine- Younger brother of Hampshire's Sean Ervine, left handed batsmen who has recently broken into the side

    Sean Williams- In my opinon, a very talented batsmen, who bowls occasional slow left armers, 11 ODI 50s

    Sikander Raza- A pakistani born, aggresive batsmen who is untried at international level, has made a big imperssion on the domestic game

    Elton Chigumbura- Zim's flintoff, a key man in the pace attack and lower order batting, his peroid as captain ultimately a failure that resulted in a severe drop in his own form

    Keegan Meth- A pacer who lacks pace but is a threat becasue of his abilty to swing the ball both ways, averaged 13.31 with the ball in the domestic first class tournament this season, taking 54 wickets in 9 matches

    Prosper Utseya- Another former captain who saw the side through it's most difficult years, from 2006-10, a reliable off spinner who can bat a bit too

    Ed Rainsford- Propably zimbabwe's best pacer, he is geniunly quick, is expierenced and averaged 15.17 in the domestic OD tournament with the ball this year

    Ray Price- Zimbabwe's best bowler by a mile, at 35, the slow left armer is a bit out of place in this youthful side however he is far and away their most potent wicket taking threat

    Tendai Chatara- The 12th man of my squad, Chatara is an exciting prospect at just 20 years of age, a pacey, economical, wicket taking fast bowler, he topped the first class wicket table in zimbabwe this year with 56 scalps at an average of 19.19

    Comment


    • #3
      Here are the sides each team fielded:


      The weather looked fine for the whole match and the pitch offered something for the spinners but initially not so much for seamers. I lost the toss and Bangladesh opted to bat first.

      Day 1
      I knew I had to keep Bangladesh under 400 if I were to have any chance of winning. I had to take wickets early, particularly that of Iqbal, who I feared greatly. The breakthrough came in the 3rd over when Nafees was trapped LBW by Rainsford for 5. However they quickly recovered, and Mahmudullah got well set. I was frustrated that I had not built on my early breakthrough as b'desh reached 92/1 at luch, with both batsmen on 44 NO. The afternoon session dragged on as these 2 batsmen scored freely. To my horror, iqbal was dropped in the slips about half way into the afternoon. Shortly before tea, Meth got Mahmudullah lbw for 92 and b'desh were 182/2. They reached tea without further loses, on 194/2. In the evening session, iqbal finally reached his 100, howver soon after Al Hasan was caught off Utseya and b'desh were 217/3. The new ball was taken with about an hour of play left and it soon produced a wicket as the oddly named Nazimudden was trapped lbw by rainsford for 23 playing a ridiculous shot. Just a few balls later the massive wicket of iqbal fell as he nicked one off meth to taylor in the slips. He departed for 118 and we could smell blood at 255/5. Howver islam and saleh steadied the ship and both got well set as b'desh reached the close of play on 290/5. Honours even after day one then...

      Comment


      • #4
        Day 2
        It wasne't long before we had another wicket as Islam fell for 34, another lbw for rainsord and the score was 308/6. We then let them score too many as the next breakthrough didn't come till saleh was lbw to price for 61, and by then the score had reached 383/7. We did well to keep them under 400 though, their final score was 396 all out, with price and utseya cleaning up the tail quickly on a pitch that was beginning to turn. We reached lunch on 1 without loss. I was hoping for a good opening partnership however my hopes were dashed when masakadza was caught in the slips with the score at 23/1. Captain Taylor then did exactly what I didn't want him to do and recklessly skied one and the score was suddenly 24/2. It wasn't long before the bangladeshi spinners were on and they quickly took the wickets of Ervine and williams to leave us rocking on 55/4. Raza now came in alongside Taibu- now was his time ti shine on his international debut. the pair saw us safely to tea without further dismissals, on 75/4, still 321 behind. It wasen't long before Raza went for 21, lbw to Al hasan and Chigumbura made just 6 before he was out in similar fashion. We were now 106/6 and they were into the tail. Taibu reached a battling 50 off 140 balls and managed to see us to the end of the day with meth, the score 140/6. We were trailing by a mere 256 runs. Honours were most certainly not even after day 2, b'desh were in control...

        Comment


        • #5
          Day 3
          I began day 3 thinking things coundn't really get much worse as haque soon ended a valient 50 partnership between meth and taibu with meth's dismissal for 20, caught and bowled. Utseya, the number 9 was in and we needed 30 to avoid the follow on, the score was 166/7. I actually breathed a sigh of relief as b'desh took the new ball; at least the spinners would be off for a while. My relief was shortlived as in the 3rd over of the new ball, utseya was clean bowled, with the score on 181/8 and 15 runs still needed to avoid the follow on. Taibu reached a brilliant century with a majestic 4 and proceeded to hit out, knowing he would soon run out of partners. He hit a 4 and a 6 later that over, moving us out of the threat of following on. At lunch we were 215/8, taibu on 110 NO. taibu fell lbw on 121 and we ended on 237 all out. although i was happy we had avoided the follow on and that taibu had got his ton, we were still 159 behind. it was vital that b'desh were severly restricted in this second innings. We soon got the much needed early breakthrough and what a wicket it was! Iqbal was dismissed with the score on 20/1 thanks to a brilliant diving catch from man of the moment taibu, off the bowling og meth. b'desh reached tea on 37/1, but the respite didn't last long as nafees fell for 17, being caught off the bowling of rainsford. However once again we allowed them to rebuild and dig in and by the close they had moved from 49/2 to 137/2, with mahmudullah on 62 and al hasan on 44. b'desh were 296 ahead and still very much in control...

          Comment


          • #6
            Day 4
            The big partnership between MM and AH continued until towards the end of the morning session, when Al hasan was caught behing off price for 90. Even so, by lunch they were 230/3, 389 ahead with MM on 98. Not for long though, as immediatly after lunch MM fell lbw to rainsford on 98 and the score was 230/4. After a breif recovery, Nazi fell to rainsford for 24 and Saleh retired hurt for 0 after taking a rainsford bouncer in the chest. This left b'desh on 253/5 (effectivly for 6 due to retirement). Soom after price got ghosh for 9, caught behind and then trapped islam lbw for 24, leaving them on 284/7 (effectivly 8). Once again the spinners cleaned up the tail and b'desh were 299 all out. this was more like it! both price and rainsford finished with 4 fors ( if you count Saleh's retirment as a wicket). Despite this pleasing effort from my bowlers b'desh were a massive 458 ahead and the pitch was clearly doing something for seamers and spinners. worse still, we would have to bat out 4 sessions to get a draw, our previous innnings had lasted only 3 and a bit, on a much better pitch... GULP.
            When we came out to bat that evening I knew exactly what I wanted from my openers: bat defensivly and don't lose your wickets! Did they manage it? NO! Taylor went for 5 early on, leaving us vulnerable on 10/1. I was incredibly disappointed with taylor's 2 poor performances. However the brilliant taibu now came in and saw us out to the end of the day on 55/1, with 25 runs to hsi name. We were still 404 behind and had to hold on to 9 wickets through day 5 on a piych that was doing all sorts. could we do it?

            Comment


            • #7
              Day 5
              Things began badly on the fateful final day as masakadza was trapped lbw by haque on 22, the score on 68/2. Just 2 balls later taibu was dropped on in the slips on 40! How important could that moment be? With an hour to go till lunch the score was 91/2, Ervine getting set. Half an hour till lunch and we had scored 7 more runs and were on 98/2. Importantly taibu had his 50. By lunch the partnership had accelerated slightly and we were looking ok on 118/2- taibu 62, ervine 20. However the afternoon session was an absolute disaster! Ervine was bowled for 22- 132/3. Taibu was bowled by Mahmudullah for 75- 138/4. Then Williams fell in the same fashion for 5- 139/5 and we were looking straight into the abyss! Young Raza and all rounder chigumbura would have to build a big partnership now! Even though I asked for defensive batting, these 2 are aggressive lower order batsmen and at times they batted like it, shredding my nerves as they blasted cuts through the slip corden and hooks over the infield! I was amazed they were still in at tea, when the score had reached 204/5, still 255 behind. Raza 28 and Chigumbura 38. 1 session to go and the tail only just protected by this partnership! Then, out of the blue, with an hour and a half to go and the score on 219/5, the rain came down! What a relief! 40 minutes were lost and when we came out again there were just 12 overs left. The problem was the overcast conditions, could the bangladeshis take a wicket or 2 and expose the tail. On this pitch and in these conditions, I wouldn't fancy my bowlers chances...
              Did they hold on?
              YES!
              In fact they actually batted quite agressivly again and both got 50s. The day ended with us on 262/5, 196 behind. Raza on 52, Chigumbura on 72. A brilliant performance from both men in an epic 123 run partnership. I was particularly impressed by Raza, on his international debut, to show so much determination!
              Man of the match went to Mahmudullah, who was cruelly denied 2 hundreds by getting out in his nineties. I thought taibu deserved it for 2 vital innings and a fair few important catches but everyone knows ICC's man of the match system isnt perfect...
              Here's the scorecard:
              Last edited by Clifford; 07-25-2011, 09:23 AM.

              Comment


              • #8
                here's the squad for the 5 match ODI series vs. bangladesh:


                and a breif introduction to the players we haven't met before:

                Forster Mutizwa- a wicket keeper batsmen who scored 824 runs @ 35.82 in the domestic FC tournament this year and averaged 36.83 in the OD competition

                Malcolm Waller- a quality batsmen who topped the FC runs table this season in zim, with 867 @ 41.28, he also bowls some useful leg spinners, would propably have made the test side ahead of Raza if he hadn't been injured...

                Graeme Cremer- the leg spinner is a regular in the ODI side with 53 international wickets who was unlucky not to be included in my test squad, its just we already had 2 good spinners...

                Comment


                • #9
                  good story dude, loving the detail.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Thanks a lot cardassian!
                    Anyway, onto the 1st ODI of this 5 match series. I was really not looking forward to this as I always do worse in one day cricket than tests in cricket captain! However we were ranked bottom, below b'desh in the ODI ranking (and rightly so) so if were to have any chance of lifting ourselves off the foot of the table, we had to win this series.

                    Here is the line-ups for the first match:


                    The only change from the test match side was to replace the rather disapointing Utseya with Cremer. I was desperate to give Chatara a go however the pace attack had done well in the test so Rainsford and Meth kept their places. Williams and to a lesser extent Ervine were under pressure to perform with Waller and Mutizwa in the squad.

                    As you can see the weather was fine but the pitch did offer something for both seam and spin bowlers. I won the toss and chose to bat first.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      ZIM innings
                      Our innings began slowly, as both openers were keen not to lose their wickets. We reached 9/0 after 5 overs and 22/0 after the end of the 1st power play, 10 overs in. The only dramatic moment had been when Masakadza was dropped in the slips in the 7th over. It wasen't long though before the opening partnership was broken; Taylor got himself run out for 11 and we were 24/1. Taibu and Masakadza speeded things up a bit as we reached the 15 over mark on 50/1. Then, in the 19th over, Mahmudullah got Taibu lbw for 17, the score on 77/2. Masakadza reached a well deserved 50 a few overs later with a quick single. Ervine got himself well set again befoer he threw away his wicket on 21, leaving us 101/3 after 25 overs. Williams managed to get himself set and I took the batting power play in the 33rd over with masakadza on 70 and williams on 31. The pair hit out in the power play, passing the 150 mark in the 34th over. It wasen't long before williams reached his 50, from 50 deliveries, with a brilliant drive for 4. By the end of the powerplay, with 38 overs gone, we had reached 176/3. With 10 overs to go we were 190/3 with 2 batsmen well set. However the 90 run partnership between was then appruptuly brought to an end as Masakadza got himself stumped on 84, the score was 190/4. Raza was next in, and he and williams put on a rapid 47, taking the score to 237/5 before raza got himself out, having hit a breezy 29 from 27 balls. Chigumbura then came in and was bowled first ball by Mahmudullah. We were now in the second last over and the new man meth faced just one ball, which he hit for 4. Williams hit a couple of boundaries in the final over to take us to 249/6 after 50 overs. I was very pleased with that considering our slow start and ws very impressed by williams, whose 86 not out from 89 had, alongside masakadza's 84, put us in a great position.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        B'desh innings
                        In just the 3rd over a vital early breakthrough came- Iqbal was caught behind off rainsford for 1 and the score was 2/1. In the next over, nafees was trapped lbw by Meth for 1 as well and the score was 2/2! I couldn't believe my luck! And soon, b'desh were in real trouble as islam also fell to meth and the score was 13/3. The bangladeshis then tried to relieve the pressure by hitting out and forced meth out of the attack, his econamy rate in tatters. Rainsford kept troubling them though and it wasen't long before he had mahmudullah for 14 and the score was 37/4. Price soon got Reza lbw and the game was almost beyond the bangladeshis at 60/5. Could they recover like england did yesterday from 5 wickets down?
                        No!
                        Chigumbura removed Al Hasan for 38 and Ghosh quickly, leaving them on 79/7. Cremer then came into the attack and his leg spin removed their last recogniszed batsmen, Ashraful, and all rounder shuvo, moving the score to 90/9. The tailenders knew the game was over and hit out, eventually cremer got Haque lbw for 23 and b'desh were 118 all out from 27.4 overs.
                        An extraordinary win, by a margin of 131 runs. i had never expected b'desh to bat so poorly, but it was 1-0 to us and i now couldn't wait till the 2nd match!
                        By the way here's the scorecard if you don't believe me:

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          How do you know so much about cricket in Zimbabwe?

                          Great story mate, good luck, it has partly made me want to start a game with them, which i was going to do anyway at some point, but i want to check a few players out.

                          Is domestic and ODi/20/20 strong in Zimb and what kind of money are the players getting payed in comparison to other places, because surely if you were a top class player in Zimb you would jump over the border to South Africa and play for better teams with better money? Well that's my thought anyway without knowing much.

                          I know they get some English players going over to play and it would be a great learning curve going over there and i hope ENgland can tour there again some time.

                          I really like effort Zimb and Bang put in without success, the ICC really don't give them much of a chance, both need to play more test matches against the other nations, yeah they might still lose or they could improve and in the future be like Sri Lanka. Everyone knows Bangladesh has the ability to become a good cricket nation in the future with the amount of people the place has and the natural talent but they need help.

                          If Zimb has that ability too then i think the for Cricket the ICC really should be doing everything possible to make these teams as competitive as possible, for the future of all forms of cricket, along with trying to make Ireland a test team in the near future so they don't continue to lose players to England.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            i have followed zimbabwe since the 2007 world cup, I was only 13 at the time, and that was when i first became aware of the problems that zimbabwe was facing, both as a country and a team. I wanted them to do well because everyone loves an underdog, or a team that truimphs over advertsy.
                            I mostly find most stuff out on cricinfo as their games are only ever shown on tv when they are invloved in a major tournament.
                            The domestic game completely collapsed in zimbabwe from about 2005-07 and many of the comeptitions were not even held. The whole system was relaunched in about 2008 with 5 new franchise teams, each with an equal number of the centrally contracted players assigned to them as well as $ 1million to start them off. This is why the top players don't jsut move elsewhere, although some do occasionally do spells in england or austrailia. The new competitions are improving every year in terms of quality and more and more foriegn palyers, mostly english, are coming over for the season as the situation improves.
                            i totally agree with you nilet, the icc don't do enough for zim and b'desh, they should invest in the domestic games of both nations. i also don't see the point in the one off tests that zim are scheduled to play for the first year or so. How can they improve by playing one test every 6 months?
                            Anyway, I really appriciate your comments and thank you to everyone who is reading this story!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              I agree they should be playing a minimum 3 test series and no nation should be playing less than that in a series.

                              Do you know what players in Zimb give the team the best star rating?

                              Cheers.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X