Like roast pork and apple sauce, chicken and beer go very well together and this excellent barbecue beer can chicken recipe not only helps to keep the meat nice and moist when cooking it on the braai, but the beer, herbs as well as the smoky flavour that you only get from a “weber roast” make for a unique and very tasty roast chicken.

Only on a Weber Barbecue?
You don’t have to use a Weber braai, any kettle type barbeque will do with lid large enough to cook a chicken standing upright and I suppose you could use a covered roasting tin on the grill of a standard braaivleis. Of course you do not even have to cook this recipe on the barbeque, as “beer can chicken in oven” works well although with most ovens you will have to lay the chicken on it’s stomach and you will miss out on the unique BBQ smoky flavour.

Ingredients

2 kg / 4-5 lb whole chicken
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 can of beer – brand at the discretion of the chef!

For The Rub
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried garlic, you can use crushed garlic
1 tsp granulated onion
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Optional
Add Flavoured Wood Chips to the barbecue for additional smoky flavours.

Indirect Cooking Method

To cook this beer chicken recipe or most roasts in a kettle barbecue, you will use the “indirect cooking method” and to do this you pace two heaps of charcoal on opposite sides of the bottom grill, with a gap in-between. Weber bbq’s come with special grates or charcoal holders for this. In this way, the coals providing the heat are placed out to the side. When roasting or baking, the food is placed on the upper grill between the two fires, directly above a foil drip pan. This method of cooking is known as indirect cooking.

When you are almost ready to cook the meat, place a drip pan on the grate under the grill in the centre of the bbq between the two fires. This way the heat of the charcoal will not be directly under the chicken which would make it burn.
The pans will catch any fats, juices and bastes which fall from the chicken during cooking. When selecting a drip pan, it is important that the pan be large enough to catch all of the drippings from the food above.

Prepare The Chicken

1. Combine the rub ingredients in a bowl
2. Rinse the chicken inside and out under water and remove and discard the neck, giblets, and any excess fat. Pat dry the chicken with a paper towel.
3. Lightly brush or spray all over with the vegetable oil and season, inside and out, with the rub.
4. Open the beer can and drink half of the beer then place the half-full can on a flat surface and slide the chicken over the top so the can fits inside the cavity.

Cooking the Chicken

Keeping the can upright, balance the chicken on its two legs on the grill of your barbecue. You can get special beer can chicken roaster grills (see image below) or ChickCAN Rack’s (see accessories at the bottom of the page) that help to keep the chicken steady whilst cooking, but if you are careful you can get away without using one.

Barbecue over indirect medium heat until the juices run clear. During the cooking, try and keep the lid closed as much as possible.

Once cooked, carefully remove the chicken and the can from the braaivleis, being careful not to spill the beer as it will be hot. Let the chicken rest for about 10 minutes before lifting it from the can. Discard the beer.

Cut the chicken into serving pieces and serve warm.

Weber Barbecue’s for Beercan Chicken

To cook beer butt chicken on the braai, the most important piece of equipment is the actual grill itself, I highly recommend a Weber. Amazon have a huge selection of Weber Barbecues and Accesories both in the US and the UK:

UK
Weber Barbeque’s on Amazon.co.uk

USA

Weber Bbq’s on Amazon.com

Beer Can Chicken Roaster Grills

Not essential, but a these purpose built stainless-steel racks, or ChickCAN’s let you cook a chicken via the beer can method with less worry about the hot can spilling or getting knocked over. A 12-ounce can of beer or soda fits securely in the stand’s center (which protrudes into the bird’s cavity), while the circular wire base spans a wire grill more securely than individual "feet" and supports a chicken up to four pounds in weight.

UK
Beer Can Roasters on Amazon.co.uk

USA

ChickCAN roasters on Amazon.com

Flavoured Wood Chips

Alder, Apple, Cherry, Hickory, Mesquite, Pecan, Oak, Tobasco and even Jack Daniel’s! Wood chips for the barbecue come in many flavours and add a fantasic and completely unique flavour to your roast chicken or any other meat.

UK
Wood Chips on Amazon.co.uk

USA

Wood Chips on Amazon.com

“Scott is facing bankruptcy amid the turmoil that grips the financial markets of 2008. He is saved when money is transferred to his account from an unexpected source. We flash back to war-torn 1970′s Rhodesia where Scott is growing up as a privileged white boy alongside his best friend, Simba, a black boy, on his parents’ farm…”

Blood Lily by Mason Cranswick is “a sweeping tale of naivety, treachery, war and genocide, of love and friendship… and ultimately of hope and regeneration”

The book mainly revolves around the fictional relationship between two boys born in Rhodesia (now Zim) and one that many who grew up in Africa may be able to relate to: One boy is the son of a white farmer and the other is the son of a black domestic worker on the same farm and at the core of the novel is a message of hope and promise for Zimbabwe.

By Ingrid La Trobe on Amazon: “The two boys grow up together as best of friends, with the black servant and her son regarded as part of the wider family circle on the white man’s farm. But therein lies the problem in this relationship and the wider society of Rhodesia, as such a paternal outlook fails to provide the basis for true equality and shared aspiration for all the country’s people. Cranswick’s story takes us through the years of civil war in Rhodesia into the tragedy of life today in Zimbabwe, and there is plenty of excitment and drama to keep one engaged, in what is ultimately a story of betrayal, redemption and Africa’s endurance despite the folly of man. ”

Chirundu.com: An easy to read and well written book that every Zimbabwean or anyone interested in Zimbabwe should read. Even though it is a fictional account, it portrays a part of our history in a wonderful story of how in the end, friendship can conquer all. Blood Lily was hard to put down and leaves you with mixed feelings of some sadness for the past, but also of hope for the future.

Mason Cranswick

Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Mason Cranswick received an MBA from Cambridge University (Magdalene College) in 1995. Prior to that he qualified as a Chartered Accountant in the UK, after obtaining a degree in commerce from Rhodes University, South Africa. Like many Zimbos. Manson is a keen sportsman and has played international rugby for Zimbabwe Schools in 1984 and, as an amateur boxer, was a Cambridge University Blue and captain in 1994/95. He now lives in Cape Town in South Africa.

Charity

A contribution of one British Pound will be made to Zimbabwean Pensioners (M’dala Trust) for every ebook sold anywhere in the world outside South Africa. For all South African online sales and sales to readers made directly from the Publisher’s or Author’s office (not including retail outlets such as bookstores/shops etc) a contribution of R15 per book sold will be made to M’dala Trust. On top of this Manson has said that he will for the first five thousand books sold in South Africa make an additional personal contribution of R2,000 for every thousand books sold anywhere in South Africa to the Zane High Density Areas Medical Appeal, that is working in the communities in the high-density areas surrounding Harare and other major cities.

Where to Buy Blood Lily

Amazon, in the UK and US have paperback copies of the book and in the US, you can also buy a digital Kindle Book version:

UK
Blood Lily on Amazon.co.uk

USA

Blood Lily on Amazon.com

South Africa

Buy Blood Lily from the Publishers Website

Write a Book Review

If you have read this book or any other book relating to Zimbabwe or Africa and would like to review it on Chirundu.com, please contact me as I would love to be able to include it on the site.

It is not often that I get to write a headline like this and in fact Zimbabwe’s seven-wicket win is our largest victory over India in one day internationals ever! It is also the first time that we have beaten them in back-to-back games in our cricketing history.

Zimbabwe bounced back from their poor showing against Sri Lanka in Bulawayo on Tuesday and as if to prove that their first win over India last Friday wasn’t a fluke, Zimbabwe won even more convincingly – with a bonus point this time, which means that our qualification for the final of this tri-series is highly possible.

India Bat First
The day started well with Zimbabwe winning the toss and deciding to put India into bat and on a slow pitch at the Harare Sports Club, Zimbabwe’s four spinners led by Greg Lamb (3-45) combined beautifully. Our opening bowlers, Andy Blignaut and Ray Price, gave India no free scoring opportunities and it must be said that India’s Dinesh Karthik and M Vijay were also very cautious scoring only 26 runs in the first 10 overs (five of them in wides). The result was to restrict India to a very gettable 194-9, with only Ravindra Jadeja (51) getting a decent score for India.

The Zimbabwe Innings

Watching Zimbabwe’s Tatenda Taibu who was due to come into bat at number 3 sitting on the boundary waiting to come into bat (main picture) was a feature of the day as Zimbabwe’s opening pair of Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza punished the bowlers, adding 128 runs in 26.3 overs, which is Zimbabwe’s highest for the first wicket against India, bettering the 121 between Grant Flower and Alistair Campbell at Vadodara on April 5, 199

When the opening stand was broken, it was man of the match Brendan Taylor who having made 83 in the previous game against India was the first to go as he was caught by Murali Vijay off the bowling of Pragyan Ojha for 74. Taylor was strong on the backfoot, plundering six fours and one six from 90 balls and he has now also scored 1038 runs at Harare and is the only the third batsman to do so, joining Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower (1291) and Grant Flower (1099)

Taibu still had to wait as Zimbabwe who were now obviously already looking for the bonus point win decided to send in Charles Coventry, who scored a brisk 20 of 23 balls.

Masakadza eventually fell for 66 runs off 86 balls after Virat Kohli held on to a great catch from the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja having faced 86 balls and smashed four fours and two towering sixes off spinner Amit Mishra in the 31st over. This was Hamilton’s first fifty against India and his 16th overall.

By this time Zimbabwe were well on course for the win, with Elton Chigumbura (16 not out) and Tatenda Taibu (13 not out) easing the side home with plenty of overs in hand.

After the game Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura said that he “thought all the bowlers bowled really well and when we batted, we knew it was just a matter of getting good partnerships, and Hami and BT batted really well.” He also revealed that he persuaded coach Alan Butcher to play Blignaut instead of Chris Mpofu. – “He is a very fair coach,” Chigumbura said. “Our relationship is good because we meet each halfway. I know what he wants and he knows what I want. For example, today I wanted Andy Blignaut to play and he wanted Chris Mpofu to play.”

Blignaut, returned that faith shown in him and bowled a full spell for Zimbabwe for the first time since his international cricket comeback a few months ago. He has been used mainly as a middle-order batsman who bowled a bit. But today he extracted good movement to claim 1-23 from his 10 overs. “During practice he (Blignaut) has been bowling well and we thought if we drop Chris instead (of Blignaut) it will give us good balance because Blignaut can also bat.”

Zimbabwe Stats

• This is the first time that Zimbabwe has recorded successive wins against India in ODIs. In their previous ODI against India at Bulawayo on May 28, 2010, Zimbabwe won by six wickets.
• Zimbabwe’s seven-wicket win is the 10th against India in ODIs out of 51 played – winning % 21.56 (Lost 39 and Tied 2).
• Zimbabwe’s seven-wicket victory is the biggest over India at Harare and the second biggest against India ever, next only to the eight-wicket victory at Bulawayo on February 15, 1997.
• Greg Lamb’s (3/45) is to date his career-best bowling performance in ODIs.
• Blignaut captured his 50th wicket in ODIs – his victim being Ravindra Jadeja.
• Brendan Taylor’s second half-century (74 off 90 balls) against India is his 19th in ODIs and has now scored 1500 runs at home at an average of 36.58, including twelve fifties, in 48 matches. He has now also scored 1038 runs at Harare and is the only the third batsman to do so, joining Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower (1291) and Grant Flower (1099).

Next Games

The next game in the Series is on Saturday June 5th where India will take on Sri Lanka at the Harare Sports Club and then Zimbabwe play Sri Lanka also at HSC on June 7th. The final is on June 9th.

Zimbabwe Cricket Books

Amazon, have a bunch of Zim related cricket books, including "Blood, Sweat And Treason" by Henry Olonga, “A History of the Rhodesia and Zimbabwe National Sides” by Jonty Winch who traces the history of cricket in this country (Zimbabwe) from the first recorded game played in 1890, through two World Wars and a guerilla war, to the comparative peace of post-independence and eventual world recognition in the 1980s when Zimbabwe was able to send a side to England to take part in the I.C.C. Trophy competition which it won.

There is also the Autobiography of another great Zimbabwean cricket coach Duncan Fletcher “Behind the Shades”

USA: Amazon.com

Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.com

At the moment Amazon UK don’t have as wide selection as the US site, but I have ordered books from the US and had them delivered to the UK with no problems.

UK: Amazon.co.uk
Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.co.uk

The 4th match in this Tri-Series and the first in Harare sees India take on Zimbabwe on the 3rd of June. Zimbabwe will be looking to bounce back from a poor performance where they lost badly to Sri Lanka in Bulawayo a few days ago, whilst India will be looking for revenge after their defeat to Zimbabwe in the opening game of the tournament.

FREE – Watch Zimbabwe vs India Live Online

You can watch live streaming of the Zimbabwe India game live on-line through BetFair of all places!

Betfair is an online betting site and all you have to do is open an account with them and you can watch this and many other live sporting events including all of the games in this tri tournament. The best bit of all it is totally FREE – I did it myself and you don’t even have to deposit any money into your account:

To Watch the Game Live:

1. Go to the Betfair Website and create an account
2. Log in to your new account
3. Look for the Zimbabwe game under Sports/Cricket and click the Watch Sport Free on Bet Fair Live Video link on the right, or just look for the Live Video link anywhere on their site.

Updates – If you can’t watch it live, I will be updating this page throughout the day with the scores, just check the Latest Updates at the foot of this page.

Date and Time of the game
The match kicks off on the 3rd June at 09:00 local time (07:00 GMT), or 8:00 British Summer Time. In Sri Lanka and India, the match starts at 12:30.
Hours of play (local time): 09.00 start, First Session 09.00-12.30, Interval 12.30-13.15, Second Session 13.15-16.45

Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe need to bounce back from defeat against Sri Lanka and prove that their win against India was not a fluke. To do this, they will have to perform better in all departments. Playing in Harare, which should offer better weather than what was experienced in Bulawayo, giving Zimbabwe a more even playing field. Our spinners will like it, so will our batsmen who struggled when it was overcast in Bulawayo, but made merry when it was sunny. It is not quite the do-or-leave situation, but neither team will want to leave it until they face Sri Lanka, on paper the strongest team in the tournament.

Look out for Hamilton Masakadza, who in both of Zimbabwe’s games so far has got off to a quick start. In the first he failed to convert it into a big score, and in the second game, he found himself out of partners. In his home-town, he will want to continue the starts and ideally finish the job himself. Zimbabwe should have a slightly stronger line up today as Tatenda Taibu comes in for Chris Mpofu

Possible Zimbabwe team: 1 Hamilton Masakadza, 2 Brendan Taylor (wk) 3 Charles Coventry, 4 Greg Lamb, 5 Craig Ervine, 6 Elton Chigumbura (capt), 7 Andy Blignaut, 8 Graeme Cremer, 9 Prosper Utseya, 10 Chris Mpofu, 11 Ray Price.

India
India have gone from the low of losing pretty badly to Zimbabwe to the high of winning against Sri Lanka two days later. A player to watch is Rohit Sharma, who has taken his ODI average from 25.6 to 31.9, has nearly doubled his List A centuries count, and if he gets a century in this game, will equal the world record for centuries in consecutive innings.

Possible Indian Team: 1 M Vijay, 2 Dinesh Karthik/Naman Ojha (wk), 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 Suresh Raina (capt), 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Amit Mishra, 9 Ashok Dinda, 10 Pragyan Ojha, 11 Umesh Yadav

 Loading ...

Latest Updates:

3:50pm Match over Zimbabwe Win by 7 wickets with over 11 overs to go, so Zim claim the bonus point and are into the final \o/

3:33pm Zimbabwe 173/3 (34.1 ov) Zimbabwe require another 22 runs with 7 wickets and 15.5 overs remaining

3:20pm Wicket: Zimbabwe 161/2 (31.4 ov): Jadeja to Masakadza, OUT, Virat Kohli, pulled to right of midwicket where Virat dives full stretch to take a good catch.

2:57pm Wicket: Zim loose their first wicket, Taylor chips one into the air to long off and an easy catch is taken. BRM Taylor c Vijay b Ojha 74 (90b 6×4 1×6) SR: 82.22. Zimbabwe now 128/1 (26.3 ov). Charles Coventry in early at number 3 (usually bats at number 5) Zim obviously looking for the bonus point that will guarantee them a place in the final. (You get a bonus point if you win in 40 overs)

2:54pm Zimbabwe 128/0 (25.6 ov) and require another 69 runs with 10 wickets and 24.0 overs remaining (Required RR 2.9) Brendan Taylor 72, Hamilton Masakadza 47 Current partnership 126 runs, 26.2 overs, RR: 4.78 (Masakadza 47, Taylor 72)

2:32pm Zimbabwe get to 100 without loosing a wicket: Zimbabwe 101/0 and need 93 to win from 30.3 overs

2:19pm Brendan Taylor goes to 50 not out in his 100th cricket match for Zimbabwe.

2:13pm Current Match Status:

2:00pm Zimbabwe looking good after 10.1 overs: 57/0 require another 138 runs with 10 wickets and 39.5 overs remaining. Brendan Taylor 35, Hamilton Masakadza 20

1:38pm Latest score: Zimbabwe 26/0 (6.3 ov) and require another 175 runs with 10 wickets and 44.0 overs remaining, Required Run Rate of 3.91 Brendan Taylor 18, Hamilton Masakadza 7 Current partnership 26 runs, 6.3 overs, RR: 4.00 (Masakadza 7, Taylor 18)

1:28pm (Zim Time) Zimbabwe make slow start to run chase: Zimbabwe 5/0 (2.6 ov) and require another 190 runs with 10 wickets and 47.0 overs remaining at 4.04 runs per over

12:32pm (Zim Time) End of India’s Innings: India 194/9 (50.0 ov) India RR 3.88. Zimbabwe have some excellent bowling figures, with some excellent economy rates, especially for Andy Blignaut with only 22 runs scored off his full 10 overs:

12:03pm (Zim Time) Wicket: India now 176/8 (44.5 overs) AB Dinda c Taylor b Lamb 16 (17b 1×4 0×6) SR: 94.11. India Run rate: 3.92

11:57am India 158/7 – great to see Harare Sports Club bathed in sunlight and looking so good:

11:31am Phew, I can’t keep up – Zimbabwe get another wicket: India now 128/7 after 37.3 overs: A Mishra caught Charles Coventry bowled Graeme Cremer for 0 (3b 0×4 0×6) SR: 0.00

11:28am Wicket: No sooner as I post an image of the bowling figures and Zim get another wicket. Ray Price gets one now! India are 127/6 after 36 overs. YK Pathan lbw b Price 15 (25b 0×4 1×6) SR: 60.00

11:27am Zimbabwe bowling figures after 36 overs:

10:51am Another run out! – India now 5 down! 95/5 This time it is Elton Chigumbura with some great fielding – go Zimbabwe! Details RG Sharma run out 13 (25b 0×4 0×6) SR: 52.00
Fall of wicket: 95/5 (27.5 ov); Partnership: 3 runs, 1.1 overs, RR: 2.57 (Sharma 2, Jadeja 1)

10:45am There is a direct hit at the stumps – batsman short of the crease India now 4 down! 92/4 Fantastic fielding from Andy Blignaut, he is having a great game after an absence from cricket of 4 years!

10:37am (Zim Time) Wicket: India now 86/3 (25 overs) V Kohli caught Taibu bowled Utseya for 18 (29b 1×4 0×6) SR: 62.06 Partnership: 23 runs, 6.2 overs, RR: 3.63 (Sharma 8, Kohli 15)

10:06am (Zim Time) Another wicket! India now 63/2 (18.4 ov) – M Vijay stumped by †Taibu bowled Lamb for 21 (56b 0×4 0×6) SR: 37.50

10:06am (Zim Time) Zim claim their first wicket and it’s Dinesh Karthik caught by Tatenda Taibu off the bowling of Greg Lamb for 33 (47b 4×4 0×6) SR: 70.21- India are 58/1 after 16.1 Overs run rate 3.58

9:36am (Zim Time) Slow going at the moment for the Indians, with Andy Blignaut bowling well : End of over 7 (1 run) India 18/0 (RR: 2.57) M Vijay 4* (20b) KD Karthik 9* (22b 1×4) RW Price 3-0-11-0 AM Blignaut 4-0-7-0

9:22am (Zim Time) India 11/0 (4.3 ov) Dinesh Karthik(rhb) 6 Murali Vijay 1

9:00am (Zim Time) Zimbabwe have won the toss and elected to field. Knowing what total to chase seems to work well for Zimbabwe. There is one change to the team, Zim have replaced the only specialist medium-pacer, Chris Mpofu with wicketkeeper-batsman, Tatenda Taibu. India are with the same team that thrashed Sri Lanka, giving the M Vijay-Dinesh Karthik opening combination another go.

Pitch report from CricInfo: Neil Manthorp reckons there would be a bit in it for the seamers for the first thirty minutes. However, he reckons this is the least amount of grass cover on this pitch that he has seen in some time. Some bald patches. Spinners should come on later in the game. Zimbabwe have four spinners.

7:32am (Zim Time) Good morning everyone, hope you had a good nights sleep and that you are ready for some cricket. The weather in Harare: A chilly 8°C start to the day and the forecast is good with a high of 21°C. It looks like it is going to be a typical winters day in Zim – sunny & no chance of rain!

Zimbabwe Cricket Books

Amazon, have a bunch of Zim related cricket books, including "Blood, Sweat And Treason" by Henry Olonga, “A History of the Rhodesia and Zimbabwe National Sides” by Jonty Winch who traces the history of cricket in this country (Zimbabwe) from the first recorded game played in 1890, through two World Wars and a guerilla war, to the comparative peace of post-independence and eventual world recognition in the 1980s when Zimbabwe was able to send a side to England to take part in the I.C.C. Trophy competition which it won.

There is also the Autobiography of another great Zimbabwean cricket coach Duncan Fletcher “Behind the Shades”

USA: Amazon.com

Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.com

At the moment Amazon UK don’t have as wide selection as the US site, but I have ordered books from the US and had them delivered to the UK with no problems.

UK: Amazon.co.uk
Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.co.uk

With Zimbabwe winning their opening game against India, and India then beating Sri Lanka in the second game on Sunday, this is a must win game for the Sri Lankans.

FREE – Watch Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka Live

You can watch live streaming of the Zimbabwe Sri Lanka game live on-line through BetFair of all places!

Betfair is an online betting site and all you have to do is open an account with them and you can watch this and many other live sporting events including all of the games in this tri tournament. The best bit of all it is totally FREE – I did it myself and you don’t even have to deposit any money into your account:

To Watch the Game Live:

1. Go to the Betfair Website and create an account
2. Log in to your new account
3. Look for the Zimbabwe game under Sports/Cricket and click the Watch Sport Free on Bet Fair Live Video link on the right, or just look for the Live Video link anywhere on their site.

Updates – If you can’t watch it live, I will be updating this page throughout the day with the scores, just check the Latest Updates at the foot of this page.

Date and Time of the game
The match kicks off on the 1st June at 09:00 local time (07:00 GMT), or 8:00 British Summer Time. In Sri Lanka and India, the match starts at 12:30.
Hours of play (local time): 09.00 start, First Session 09.00-12.30, Interval 12.30-13.15, Second Session 13.15-16.45

Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe will be looking to continue their winning momentum against Sri Lanka and they take many positives as well as belief from their batting performance against India.

Zimbabwe’s confidence should be good as even though they didn’t win a game in the recent Twenty20 World Cup, they did very well in the warm-up games by defeating Australia and Pakistan. This tri-series has hinted at more progress as they produced a clinical win against India in the first ODI in Bulawayo. They have to now to show they can sustain their recent performances. The game against Sri Lanka provides another opportunity.

We hope that Brendan Taylor and Craig Ervine can continue their current fine form after they and the rest of the top order batsmen successfully chased down a target of 286 against India. Another player to watch is Ray Price who has an economy rate of 3.88 from 75 ODIs! Against Sri Lanka his economy rate gets even better: just 3.36 from seven games – excellent.

Squad: E Chigumbura*, AM Blignaut, CJ Chibhabha, CK Coventry, AG Cremer, CR Ervine, GA Lamb, H Masakadza, CB Mpofu, RW Price, EC Rainsford, V Sibanda, T Taibu†, BRM Taylor, P Utseya

Sri Lanka
Even though it was a young side, Sri Lanka will not be happy about being totally outperformed by the also young Indian team on Sunday. Another defeat would take them very close to an early exit from the tournament.

Squad: TM Dilshan*, AD Mathews, LD Chandimal†, CRD Fernando, S Randiv, CK Kapugedera, KMDN Kulasekara, BAW Mendis, BMAJ Mendis, NLTC Perera, TT Samaraweera, LPC Silva, WU Tharanga, HDRL Thirimanne, T Thushara

Latest Updates:

4.15pm (Zim Time) Match Over – Sri Lanka 119/1 (15.2/26 ov) – Zimbabwe 118 (24.5/26 ov) Sri Lanka won by 9 wickets (with 64 balls remaining). Zimbabwe will be disappointed with their batting performance – 118 was never going to be enough to defend.

Only Hamilton Masakadza (62) turned up for Zimbabwe. Sri Lanka played well with both the ball and bat, their bowling was aggressive and effective with seam and spin alowing them to strangle and harass the hosts who just managed to get 118. Only Masakadza managed to successfully combine aggressive intent with the required skill that the rain-reduced 26-over game demanded of the batsmen.

Cricinfo: Zim have let themselves down big time today, and squandered their advantage on the league table. Sri Lanka have jumped into the lead, and there is a lot to play for going into the second round of league games.

3.55pm (Zim Time) Sri Lanka 86/1 (10.5/26 ov) – Sri Lanka require another 33 runs with 9 wickets and 15.1 overs remaining. Last Wicket: WU Tharanga run out 40 (37b 6×4 0×6) SR: 108.10

3.42pm (Zim Time) Zimbabwe were all out for 118 (24.5/26 ov) Sri Lanka currently have 54/0 (7.5/26 ov) – Sri Lanka require another 65 runs with 10 wickets and 18.1 overs remaining.

2.24pm (Zim Time) Things going from bad to worse – another wicket! Zimbabwe 92/8 – Hamilton Masakadza (47) and Ray Price (0) – Last wicket: P Utseya st †Chandimal b BMAJ Mendis 0 (3b 0×4 0×6) SR: 0.00 – thats 5 wickets down with only 17 runs scored.

2.22pm (Zim Time) Things not looking good Zim have lost three very quick wickets: Zimbabwe 90/7 – Hamilton Masakadza (46) and Prosper Utseya (0) – Last wicket: AG Cremer b Randiv 2 (3b 0×4 0×6) SR: 66.66

1.45pm (Zim Time) Zimbabwe 48/2 – Hamilton Masakadza (30) and Craig Ervine (1) – Last wicket: GA Lamb c BMAJ Mendis b BAW Mendis 10 (19b 0×4 0×6) SR: 52.63

1.28pm (Zim Time) Zimbabwe 24/1 – Hamilton Masakadza (11) and Greg lamb (9) – Last wicket: BRM Taylor c †Chandimal b Fernando 2 (5b 0×4 0×6) SR: 40.00

Sri Lanka have won the toss and elected to field. Angelo Mathews, who picked an injury, and Thilan Samaraweera are not playing today. Jeevan Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal come in, while Zimbabwe are unchanged. Chigumbura comments that one area his side is worried about is the extras – they were horrendous against India and need to address that, more so in an overs-reduced game. The Lankans are out limbering up. Time for action.

12.40pm (Zim Time) The sun is now out and the clouds have receded, and It is going to be a 26-over game. Powerplays are reduced to 6, 3 and 2 overs each. Two bowlers can bowl six, while three others can bowl five each, so this is a bit like an extended Twenty20 game. Zimbabwe will fancy their chances.

12.25pm (Zim Time) No new official updates from the last one – I am still watching groundsman working on the field ensuring the grounds are ready, hopefully for a 1.00pm start (35 minutes from now). It is still not raining. As far as I know the toss has not yet happened and the teams have NOT yet been announced.

10:50am (local time) Some Good news, the rain has stopped and play is due to start 1pm local (12pm British summer time) – reduced to 27 overs each

10:30am (local time) Some official news: Still some hope as Umpire Russel Tiffin says: “We plan to inspect at 12.30 (local time) and if we cannot start then we will have to abandon the game.” Groundsman Douglas Higgins said the outfield is holding up and would be playable if the rain did not continue for long.

10:16am (local time) If you are watching the live pictures, you will see that the covers have come off and there are what looks like groundsmen on the pitch – No official news, but possibly a chance of play soon?

9:17am (local) It seems that rain has eased a little and they are hoping to get some play today, but the covers are firmly in place, covering the area surrounding the square. It has been raining all night in Bulawayo and apart from the rain, it is very cold!

8:34am (local) Raining in Bulawayo i’m afraid! – the covers are out and there is some light rain. It seem thatthe game will probably not start on time. Early showers could make the toss even more vital than it has been in the first couple of games. The team batting second has won both matches so far, and with rain and cloud in the air, expect the team winning the toss to elect to field today as well.

Zimbabwe Cricket Books

Amazon, have a bunch of Zim related cricket books, including "Blood, Sweat And Treason" by Henry Olonga, “A History of the Rhodesia and Zimbabwe National Sides” by Jonty Winch who traces the history of cricket in this country (Zimbabwe) from the first recorded game played in 1890, through two World Wars and a guerilla war, to the comparative peace of post-independence and eventual world recognition in the 1980s when Zimbabwe was able to send a side to England to take part in the I.C.C. Trophy competition which it won.

There is also the Autobiography of another great Zimbabwean cricket coach Duncan Fletcher “Behind the Shades”

USA: Amazon.com

Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.com

At the moment Amazon UK don’t have as wide selection as the US site, but I have ordered books from the US and had them delivered to the UK with no problems.

UK: Amazon.co.uk
Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.co.uk