Online Reporter
Brandon Moyo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
FOLLOWING their disappointing match against Pakistan in the second T20I on Tuesday, Zimbabwe will be hoping to save face when the two sides face off in the series finale at Queens Sports Club this afternoon.
Pakistan already enjoys an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series; however, the Chevrons have their sights set on ending the tour on a high note after two disappointing games.
Speaking after the game on Tuesday, Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza said he is looking to take on the team’s responsibility and try to bat for longer. He believes that if they could have a couple of good partnerships, the team would be able to put decent scores on the board.
“Yeah, the first thing I’ll be saying is that I have to take the ownership and responsibility to be in the middle for as many overs as I can. I’m going to have to find a method where I can be aggressive when needed and also grind through to allow us to form partnerships.
“I think if we can find one or two more partnerships in the next game, that would help. When it comes to the boys, those who enjoy a coffee, I’ll try and take them out for a coffee, sit them down, and speak to them. I’ll tell them they can always figure it out, and if Tuesday’s defeat is still on their minds, we’ll try and get that out. Once that’s out of their heads, we’ll keep motivating them, reminding them that everybody backs them,” said Raza.
The 38-year-old all-rounder added that it is their duty to try and turn the team’s fortunes around while being mentally strong for the challenge. Raza said they need to redirect the criticism they’ve received to re-ignite their passion and energy so they can return to winning ways. “I know there will be some backlash, as I’ve heard from fans. And rightly so, but the beauty of professional sport is that we’ve been chosen for this, so we should be mentally strong enough to take that criticism, channel the passion, energy, and negativity in the right direction, and feel that passion within ourselves to say, ‘You know what? Our fans, our country deserve better, and we’re going to turn this ship around.’ If everyone’s thinking along those lines, we have a very good chance of turning it around,” said Raza. The Chevrons lost the previous game by 10 wickets after they collapsed from 37/0 in four overs to 57 all out in 12.4 overs, with only Brian Bennett (21 runs off 14 balls) and Tadiwanashe Marumani (16 runs off 14 balls) reaching double figures. Pakistan’s mystery spinner Sufiyan Muqeem finished with figures of 5/3.
The 57 runs was Zimbabwe’s lowest score in T20I history and the second-lowest by a Full Member nation in T20Is, second only to the West Indies’ 45 runs. Zimbabwe’s previous low was 82 runs against Sri Lanka. The defeat, with 14.3 overs remaining, marks the largest victory margin by balls remaining between two Full Member nations in T20s. Today’s game is scheduled to start at 1.30pm.
