SA v. ZIM 1st ODI

[butchering lee]

i'm quite glad they've put rinke in place of duffin - no offence to duffin but as a OD player..i don't think so!

paoli, i'm still holding on to your promise that rinke has the goods, (edit--->) but alas am yet to see it!!

[butchering lee]

23.4Ireland to Kemp, no run, Dropped! short ball on the off stump, Kemp pulls and completely mistimes it, ball loops straight to Utseya at mid-wicket, puts down a sitter!

bummer - i was really hoping they'd get the top 5 again (one has to set targets)

[butchering lee]

rinke failed with the bat...again but mufumbisi maintains his, as with all comments on zim cricket - relative, good start)

[Utseyalitharan]

Ist Post

Zim lost again as expected, this time they really struggled with the pace of the S.A attack...its good though that they managed to pick up a couple of wickets. Our batsmen did let us down again Taylor Masakadza & Matsikenyeri havent been allowed to settle this whole series so far lets hope they get it right next game..i'm hoping S.A will start batting first, although they might tear us apart, but i thought Zim where better chasers than we are at defending scores.

[Mike]

Welcome to the forum Utseyalitharan. It's good to have new members interested in Zimbabwe cricket. I think we all need to be patient while the Zimbabwe team is rebuilding. You can see how young and inexperienced this team is:

Vusimuzi Sibanda 	22y - 41 ODIs
Tafadzwa Mufambisi 	19y -  3 ODIs
Chamu Chibhabha 	20y - 11 ODIs
Hamilton Masakadza 	23y - 28 ODIs
Brendan Taylor 		20y - 49 ODIs
Stuart Matsikenyeri 	23y - 52 ODIs
Elton Chigumbura 	20y - 40 ODIs
Piet Rinke 		24y - 16 ODIs
Prosper Utseya 		21y - 46 ODIs
Anthony Ireland 	22y - 16 ODIs
Ed Rainsford 		21y - 17 ODIs

Compare that to the Zimbabwe team that played in the last World Cup:

Name                Mat    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave     SR 100 50   Ct St
AM Blignaut          23   20   3   368   63*  21.64 109.19   -  4    5  -
ADR Campbell        188  184  14  5185  131*  30.50  66.19   7 30   76  -
DD Ebrahim           43   40   2   785  121   20.65  59.42   1  1    6  -
SM Ervine            16   13   3   192   61*  19.20  90.56   -  1    1  -
A Flower            213  208  16  6786  145   35.34  74.60   4 55  141 32
GW Flower           199  194  16  5986  142*  33.62  67.82   6 35   76  -
TJ Friend            40   29   5   416   91   17.33  78.63   -  2   13  -
Douglas T Hondo      21   10   5    40   15*   8.00  45.97   -  -    4  -
DA Marillier         40   34   4   460   56*  15.33  72.32   -  2   10  -
S Matsikenyeri        3    3   1     2    1*   1.00  25.00   -  -    -  -
BA Murphy            31   17   8    72   20*   8.00  55.38   -  -   11  -
HK Olonga            50   27  14    95   31    7.30  58.28   -  -   13  -
HH Streak           157  130  45  2132   79*  25.08  76.55   -  7   37  -
T Taibu              28   21   9   246   53   20.50  59.85   -  1   19  2
MA Vermeulen         10   10   2   258   79   32.25  68.80   -  2    3  -
GJ Whittall         147  142  22  2705   83   22.54  67.43   - 11   36  -
CB Wishart           80   72   7  1576  172*  24.24  71.70   2  4   24  -

Despite all the experience Zimbabwe had going into the last WC they only managed to beat Namibia and the Netherlands. The current team has even less experience so their prospects in the next WC aren't good. Matsikenyeri is the only player from the previous WC in the current team. I think Zimbabwe will be better prepared for the 2011 WC if the majority of the current team can improve and keep gaining experience. Zimbabwe have just 4 guaranteed ODIs left before the WC. They have one more in this series against South Africa. Then they have three guaranteed games in the ICC Champions Trophy. They would need to finish in the top two in the qualifying group to play more matches in the tournament.

It's not surprising that SA have won this series given their experience: HH Dippenaar, JH Kallis, MV Boucher, SM Pollock, RJ Peterson, AJ Hall, and M Ntini all played in the last World Cup. Zimbabwe are on a steep learning curve at the moment and I dare say many of their players will be overawed when playing against opposition like South Africa. If Zimbabwe can keep this squad together they could have a number of players with 100+ ODIs going into the 2011 WC.

[butchering lee]

hi utseyalitharan,



are you here on loan from the bbc site or will you be posting often? i hope you will, it's always nice to have another who is hopeful.



mike - good work! the 1st ODI was reminiscint of most of that old zim team's ODIs against SA anyway (minus the remote possibility i suppose).

As i've said before, it'd be great to see a few guys get it right at the same time.

btw, what happened to mupariwa in the last game - injured?

[Mike]

Originally Posted by butchering lee

btw, what happened to mupariwa in the last game - injured?

I couldn't find any reason why Mupariwa was replaced by Piet Rinke. Mupariwa was in the team for the 2nd ODI that was washed out but he was replaced when the match was rescheduled. Terry Duffin was a late withdrawal when he was injured during the warm-up. He was replaced by Tafadzwa Mufambisi, who batted attractively for 21 before being bowled by Shaun Pollock.

[butchering lee]

thanks for that.


yes, i have been quite impressed by mufambisi to date.

Actually - having had a second read of the "old school" list - maybe we should bring vermulan back into the side(as the only non-flower above 30 ave) to replace duffin

[Utseyalitharan]

How are you all?

Thanx for the warm welcome, just joined yesterday and i'm here to stay. I'm in Harare and i've been watching a lot of recent Zim games --> Zim V Bangladesh series and Zim V Aussie Academy. Mpariwa picked up an injury during the Bangladesh series and since then he hasnt been bowling well. He was severely punished by the Australians and i was suprised they picked him for the S.A series because he is still strugling for rhythm.

[Wanderer]

Hi there Utseya...

Your boys have been giving the Saffies a good ole run for their money...