Zimbabwe have won a dramatic final-over, one-wicket win in the third and final one-day international against New Zealand in Bulawayo.

Zimbabwe’s two big-hitting all-rounders, Elton Chigumbura and Malcolm Waller, finally came good, with a 112-run sixth-wicket partnership to end a 12-match losing streak across formats. Malcolm Waller, who finished on 99 not out, hit a single off the penultimate ball as Zimbabwe chased down a New Zealand’s 5 for 328 which included centuries by Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson.

Record Win:
Not only was it thrilling, but this is now Zimbabwe’s highest successful run chase and ended a sequence of seven successive defeats for the home side.

New Zealand Innings
Earlier on in the day the Black Caps won the toss and decided to bat. They initially got off to a poor start and loosing a few early wickets, but New Zealand captain Taylor (119) and Williamson (100 not out) shared a fifth wicket stand of 195 off only 133 balls.

It turned what seemed likely to be a respectable total into an imposing one, doubling the total by adding 164 runs in the final 15 overs, with the rampage starting in the batting powerplay taken after 35 overs.

Zimbabwe’s Innings
Zimbabwe fought back with captain Brendan Taylor, who had already scored centuries in the first two matches, cracking 75 off 65 balls as he and Hamilton Masakadza (36) put on 100 for the second wicket.

Tatenda Taibu also batted well, scoring an aggressive 53 but it was the swashbuckling sixth wicket stand of 112 off 85 balls between Waller and Elton Chigumbura that really put victory within reach for Zimbabwe.

Waller and Chigumbura got the target down to 34 off 36 balls when Chigumbura was bowled by Jacob Oram.

In a nervy finish, three more wickets fell and with four needed off the last over, Waller was dropped twice by Ross Taylor at midwicket.

Two runs were scored off the first miss and one off the second.

Then Ray Price skied a catch and was caught with the scores tied but the batsmen crossed and Waller had the strike and clinched the match.

The New Zealand captain took the blame for dropping Waller by saying “When you drop catches you lose matches,” and he went on to say that “Brendan Taylor and Waller batted very 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

Zimbabwe cricket captain, Elton Chigumbura joins Northants: Chigumbura, who has been in fine form with the bat in the recent triangular tournament against Sri Lanka and India, will be with the club until the end of the 2010 season.

Within hours of arriving at the County Ground, Elton was out in the middle peppering the pavilion roof with huge sixes. He said, “Yeah that’s my other strength! I like to get out there and hit the ball cleanly and time it just right.”

In an interview with the BBC, the 24-year-old Zimbabwean said “It was one of my dreams to play county cricket and finally I’m here,” he also went on to say “It’s come at the right time. I want to show the counties and the world that the guys in Zimbabwe are competitive.”

David Capel the coach of Northamptonshire has said that Elton should express himself and just play what he knows. Chigumbura also said that David Capel has already helped him with some technical stuff, and that he is looking forward to working some more with him.

The former Northants wicketkeeper Rikki Wessels has tipped Zimbabwean Elton Chigumbura to be a success. Wessels, who played with Chigumbura in Zimbabwe, told BBC Radio Northampton: “He’s very talented and he’s immense in the field.
“He’s a very dangerous bowler to left-handed batsman and he can hit the ball a very long way and very hard.”
Chigumbura could make his debut in the Twenty20 match at Leicestershire today – Friday 18th June scheduled to begin at 17:30 local time (16:30 GMT).

You can keep up-to-date with his progress live on CrickInfo or for live cricket commentary, on BBC Radio Northamptonshire via the BBC website here.

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 day started well with Zimbabwe winning the crucial toss and putting Sri Lanka into bat. Then initially Sri Lanka did very well and at one stage they looked like they were running away with the game, having scored 122 for no loss thanks largely to a rollicking start from Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Because Greg Lamb and Andy Blignaut were not playing due to some minor injuries, Zimbabwe tried to get the seamers’ overs out of the way early. Chris Mpofu bowled fairly well, but without any luck, whilst Elton Chigumbura and Chamu Chibhabha didn’t get much out of the pitch, nor did they have the pace to bother the Sri Lankans. In all their first 13 overs went for 89 runs, Dilshan getting 54 of those – eight fours and a six in them.

Enter Zimbabwe’s Spinners
Ray Price was introduced in the 12th over and with that came some control, he was accurate, aggressive and helped by some excellent fielding, began to build some pressure on the visitors.

Prosper Utseya, then got Dilshan stumped, followed up with Dinesh Chandimal’s wicket in the 25th over, and Zimbabwe was now back in the game.

Then a little surprisingly Hamilton Masakadza came to bowl for the first time in the tournament and managed a wicket with only his first ball. His celebration of showing off his vest with “just married” written on it, got him a few words from the umpire Rudi Koertzen, but I think he and everyone saw the funny side of it.

Sri Lanka had now lost 3 wickets for just 33 runs and from there it was all Zimbabwe, with Sri Lanka finally being bowled out for 236.

The Zimbabwe Batting Show

Led once again by the inform Brendan Taylor, Zimbabwe never really looked like loosing all their wickets. They did however start a little slowly, but always kept the required run rate under 5. Hamilton Masakadza was first to fall for 3, his first failure in the tournament. Taylor then got great support from Chamu Chibhabha who eventually scored a good 58 of 81 balls after a slow start. Tatenda Taibu then played very well scoring an unbeaten 42 of 55 balls. But it was Brendan Taylor’s 119 not out that really anchored the run chase for Zimbabwe. He went to only his second century in ODI’s with a cheeky single and then most impressively made sure that he was there at the end to see Zim through.

So Zimbabwe finished the group stage at the top of the log, having only lost one game to Sri Lanka and twice beating India. We can now only hope that they play as well in the final:

The Final

The final also against Sri Lanka will be played on Wednesday 9th 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 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

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

Brendan Taylor, Hamilton Masakadza and Craig Ervine helped Zimbabwe clinch an excellent six-wicket victory over India in the first game of the Tri-Nations series in Bulawayo.

Zimbabwe won at a gallop with 10 balls and six wickets to spare in the first of two matches between them in a series which also includes Sri Lanka.

All of Zimbabwe’s to 6 batsmen, led by man of the match Brendan Taylor, contributed significantly towards the victory as they overtook a good Indian total of 285-5 to record an impressive 289-4 in reply. The home team performed with skill and a certain amount of confidence, setting about their task of overtaking the Indian effort in both workmanlike and spectacular manner, as varying situations demanded.

Earlier on in the day during India’s innings, Rohit Sharma smacked four sixes in 114 from 119 balls and Ravindra Jadeja added an unbeaten 61 in India’s 285-5. The one blot on Zimbabwe’s day was the bowling performance of new captain Elton Chigumbura, who contrived to give away no fewer than 20 wides in his two overs – something for the Guinness Book of Records if they had such a category! Chigumbura said afterwards he had problems with his technique but he praised his colleagues for their “superb overall performance.”

But Hamilton Masakadza (46) and Taylor (81) gave Zimbabwe an excellent start by putting on 88 for the first wicket. Ervine smashed an unbeaten 67 and captain Elton Chigumbura weighed in with 24 not out as the hosts powered home with 10 balls to spare.

“Hami [Masakadza] and BT [Brendan Taylor] put us on top with their first-wicket partnership,” Chigumbura said. “It was also good to see Craig score a half century on his debut. The guys did well. The main focus now is to be consistent and we are working on that at the moment.”

India captain Suresh Raina praised Zimbabwe but blamed the defeat on his team’s inexperience.
He said: “They batted really well, to be honest. They deserved to win. “Some of the team have never played at this level. However we should have been able to defend 285 runs.

The next match in the series is on Sunday May 30th and sees India take on Sri Lanka at Queens Sports Club, whilst Zimbabwe’s next match is on Tuesday June 1st against Sri Lanka also at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.

For Full Match fixtures and how you can watch the games live: Zimbabwe Cricket Tri-Series

Selected Match Statistics:

• Zimbabwe have registered their ninth triumph against India in 50 ODIs (Lost 39 and Tied 2) – winning % 20.00
• Craig Ervine’s unbeaten 67 off 60 balls is the best innings score on debut for Zimbabwe against India in ODIs.
• Ervine’s innings of 67 is the fourth best on debut for Zimbabwe in limited-overs internationals.
• Greg Lamb (27) has recorded his best ever innings in ODIs, bettering the 23 against West Indies at Providence on March 6, 2010.
• Zimbabwe’s convincing six-wicket win is their third in eleven ODIs against India in Zimbabwe.
• Brendan Taylor (81) has recorded the second highest innings by a wicketkeeper for Zimbabwe against India in ODIs. Andy Flower had registered 145 at Colombo RPS on September 14, 2002.

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

ZIMBABWE returns to major international cricket at home as a Tri-Series with India, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe begins today, however what is disappointing is that both Sri Lanka and India a resting some of their key players.

The series was organised after New Zealand cancelled their tour of Zimbabwe for the second time, basing their decision on insecurity and preferring to play at a neutral venue.

The triangular will be played from May 26 to June 14 with games played at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo and at Harare Sports Club in Harare.

The series will be new coach Allan Butcher’s first home assignment since his appointment in late February.

Watch Zimbabwe v India live stream online

If you are looking to watch the games live on-line, I have found that this can be done via BetFair of all places!

All you have to do is open an account with Betfair and you can watch this and many other live sporting events including most of the games in this tri tournament. The best bit of all it is FREE – I have just done it myself and you don’t even have to deposit any money into your account – just create an account, log in and then look for the Zimbabwe game under Sports/Cricket and click the Watch Sport Free on Bet Fair Live Video link on the right.

Click here to go to betfair.com and watch Zimbabwe cricket live.

Zimbabwe News
The major Zimbabwe news before the tournament was that Prosper Utseya resigned as captain of Zimbabwe, handing over a formal resignation letter following a meeting with the managing director of Zimbabwe Cricket. His replacement in the position is allrounder Elton Chigumbura.

Zimbabwe (possible team) 1 Vusi Sibanda, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Charles Coventry, 4 Brendan Taylor, 5 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 6 Elton Chigumbura (capt.), 7 Andy Blignaut, 8 Greg Lamb, 9 Graeme Cremer/Prosper Utseya, 10 Chris Mpofu, 11 Ray Price.

Sri Lanka
Tillakaratne Dilshan will lead Sri Lanka in Zimbabwe in the absence of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, both of whom have been rested.

Sri Lanka squad: Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), Angelo Mathews (vice-capt), Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Chamara Kapugedera, Suraj Randiv, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara, Ajantha Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Dilhara Fernando, Chamara Silva, Thissira Perera.

India
Suresh Raina will lead a second-string India squad for the ODI tri-series in Zimbabwe and the Twenty20s which follow, with Virat Kohli as his deputy. Among the first-choice players who are either rested or injured are regular captain MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Praveen Kumar.

India Squad: M Vijay, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suresh Raina (capt), Virat Kohli (vice-capt), Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Ashok Dinda, Pankaj Singh, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Naman Ojha and Piyush Chawla will join the squad for the Twenty20s.

Tri-Series Fixtures:

• May 28 – Zimbabwe v India Queens Sports Club
• May 30 – India v Sri Lanka Queens Sports Club
• June 1 – Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka Queens Sports Club
• June 1 – India travel to Harare
• June 2 – Sri Lanka travel to Harare
• June 3 – Zimbabwe v India Harare Sports Club
• June 5 – India v Sri Lanka Harare Sports Club
• June 6 – Rest/Practice
• June 7 – Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka Harare Sports Club
• June 9 – Final Harare Sports Club
• June 10 – Sri Lanka depart Zimbabwe
• June 12 – Zimbabwe v India – 1st Twenty20 match Harare Sports Club
• June 13 – Zimbabwe v India – 2nd Twenty20 match Harare Sports Club

Fresh from their warm up victory over Australia, Zimbabwe have now gone on to beat defending World Twenty20 champions Pakistan with a 12-run win in their final warm-up game before the 2010 World Twenty20 tournament gets underway on Friday.

Zimbabwe’s Innings
Pakistan won the toss and put Zimbabwe in to bat. Zimbabwe made 143-7 from their 20 overs with Elton Chigumbura smashing 49 not out from just 35 balls where he shared a key 62-run partnership with Charles Coventry and helping to rescue their team who had only made 64 for 5 in the 12th over.

Chigumbura’s unbeaten 49 contained three fours and three sixes, but even so 143 looked to be a low score as the Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi did well with the ball taking 4-24.

Pakistan’s Innings
Pakistan started well with Kamran Akmal making 37 from 27 balls as but after that they they were in deep trouble at 67 for 5 after 10 overs.

Fawad Alam and Misbah-ul-Haq added 51 in in 7.4 overs for the sixth wicket, before Zimbabwean spinner Prosper Utseya turned the game around for his country as he dismissed both men on his way to impressive figures of 4 for 15 in four overs.

Pakistan ended their innings on 131 with Chigumbura again doing well with the ball, claiming 3 for 16 in three overs and Captain Prosper Utseya claimed four for 15.

Pakistan begin their campaign on Saturday against Bangladesh in St Lucia while Zimbabwe start against Sri Lanka in Guyana on Monday.

Other Warm Up Games

• In Thursday’s other warm-ups, Australia recovered from their defeat to Zimbabwe by crushing the Windward Islands by 101 runs in St Lucia.
• South Africa were limited to 125-5 off their 20 overs before Eoin Morgan top-scored with 63 from 62 balls to lead England to victory after his side had been reeling at 9-3.

Zimbabwe Score Card

H Masakadza c Umar Akmal b Shahid Afridi 33
CJ Chibhabha c Umar Akmal b Mohammad Sami 2
T Taibu run out (Misbah-ul-Haq) 2
BRM Taylor c Mohammad Hafeez b Shahid Afridi 20
AM Blignaut c Mohammad Hafeez b Shahid Afridi 1
CK Coventry c Mohammad Hafeez b Shahid Afridi 30 1
E Chigumbura not out 49
CR Ervine run out (Mohammad Sami) 2
GA Lamb not out 0
Extras (lb 2, w 2) 4

Total (7 wickets; 20 overs) 143 (7.15 runs per over)

Pakistan Score Card
Kamran Akmal c Mpofu b Utseya 37
Khalid Latif c Masakadza b Mpofu 1
Mohammad Hafeez c Cremer b Chigumbura 9
Shahid Afridi c Cremer b Price 7
Umar Akmal c Cremer b Utseya 7
Fawad Alam c Masakadza b Utseya 32
Misbah-ul-Haq c Chibhabha b Utseya 21
Abdul Razzaq b Mpofu 2
Abdur Rehman c Utseya b Chigumbura 7
Mohammad Sami c Cremer b Chigumbura 3
Mohammad Asif not out 0
Extras (w 5) 5

Total (all out; 20 overs) 131 (6.55 runs per over)

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

Zimbabwe Squad for the ICC Cricket World Twenty20: Prosper Utseya (capt), Brendan Taylor (wk), Andy Blignaut, Charles Coventry, Hamilton Masakadza, Tatenda Taibu (wk), Greg Lamb, Elton Chigumbura, Vusi Sibanda, Ray Price, Graeme Cremer, Chamu Chibhabha, Chris Mpofu, Timycen Maruma, Craig Ervine.

Zimbabwe cricket is slowly returning from their lowest point and becoming once again a respected team in international cricket and Alan Butcher, the new Zimbabwe coach, is banking on his team to pull off an upset during the opening round of World Twenty20 matches in the West Indies. They have been grouped with New Zealand and Sri Lanka for the opening phase of the tournament and Butcher believes the nature of the format gives his side a chance.

The introduction of Heath Streak and Alan Butcher as coaches along with the return of experienced players like wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu, spinner Ray Price and all-rounder Andy Blignaut has given Zimbabwe a much-needed boost.

As shown in the recent series that had with the West Indies where Zimbabwe won a few games including a Twenty20 international, the slower Caribbean pitches will suit Zimbabwe’s good slow bowling attack, and they have plenty of it with left-armer Price, leggie Graeme Cremer and off-spinners Greg Lamb, who has done well since returning to his homeland after five seasons with Hampshire, and skipper Prosper Utseya.

Zimbabwe’s tactics throughout the series with the West Indies was based around their spinners, with the new ball given to Ray Price and they set to continue with a similar style of play on what is likely to be a slow, low wicket at Providence in Guyana.

Hamilton Masakadza and Elton Chigumbura can hit a long ball while Charles Coventry, who recently lost his record for the highest one-day international individual score to Sachin Tendulkar, has the potential to dent the better bowling attacks in world cricket.

Zimbabwe will draw strength from their recent victorys over the West Indies and over Australia in a warm up match as well as in the 2007 tournament, but will still find it hard to beat teams like New Zealand and Sri Lanka on a regular basis.

Zimbabwe’s Recent Highlights

• Beat Australia in Cape Town in 2007 in its first ICC WT20 match, to emulate their victory over the same team in its first ICC CWC match in 1983.
• Beat West Indies by 26 runs in a Twenty20 International at Port-of-Spain in February this year.
• Beat Australia in a Warm Up Game.
• Its highest Twenty20 International total is 184-5 against Canada at Toronto in 2008.
• Two Zimbabweans, Ray Price and Prosper Utseya, are amongst the four bowlers who have conceded just six runs in four overs of a Twenty20 International.
• Reached the Super Six stage in ICC CWC 1999 and ICC CWC 2003, but have yet to reach a semi-final in an ICC event.
• Have recorded ODI wins over all other Full members of the ICC.
• The domestic Twenty20 tournament held in Zimbabwe in February this year was won by Mountaineers who beat Mashonaland Eagles in the final.

Zimbabwe’s First Round Fixtures:

Mon May 3 – Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe
13:30 GMT | 09:30 local | 14:30 BST
Providence Stadium, Guyana

Tue May 4 – New Zealand v Zimbabwe
13:30 GMT | 09:30 local | 14:30 BST
Providence Stadium, Guyana

Six hitters: Charles Coventry, Hamilton Masakadza, Elton Chigumbura, Andy Blignaut
Toe-cruncher: Andy Blignaut
Spinners: Ray Price, Greg Lamb, Prosper Utesya, Graeme Cremer
Best fielder: Graeme Cremer
Ones to watch: Charles Coventry, Tatenda Taibu

Zimbabwe – Players

Prosper Utseya- CAPTAIN	Ray Price	Tatenda Taibu	Andy Blignaut
Vusi Sibanda	Brendan Taylor	Charles Coventry	Hamilton Masakadza
Graeme Cremer	Chamu Chibhabha	Chris Mpofu	Elton Chigumbura
Timycen Maruma	Greg Lamb	Craig Ervine

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

Scores:
ZIMBABWE 173 for seven off 20 overs (Elton Chigumbura 76, Sean Ervine 39; Mitchell Johnson 4-23).
AUSTRALIA 172 for seven off 20 overs (David Warner 72, Michael Clarke 49; Prosper Utseya 2-27).

Zimbabwe beat Australia after taking two wickets in the final over to seal a one-run win in their warm-up in St Lucia.

Australia were on track chasing Zimbabwe’s 173 for 7 when David Warner smashed 72 off 49 and the captain Michael Clarke took them to the verge of victory with 49 from 42.

Earlier Zimbabwe had opened their bowling attack with spinners Prosper Utseya (2-27 from four overs) and Ray Price (0-33) and used four slow bowlers.

The game ended in high drama before barely a hundred fans who sprang to life in support of the Zimbabweans with Australia needing 13 runs to win from the final over. The task became too difficult when Clarke was bowled from the second-last ball by Chris Mpofu. Mitchell Johnson was then run-out from a wide and Brett Lee could only manage a bye from the final delivery. It was a practice game but it was Australia’s first T20 defeat of the season and it will worry them that they lost so much momentum at the vital stages of the chase.

“Obviously we would have liked to have won,” Johnson said. “When you come into these practice games you want to be pretty close to your best. It won’t be a setback. It’s disappointing to lose in a practice match but we’ve just got to keep going forward.”

Zimbabwe had relied on Elton Chigumbura to lift them after they were 36 for 4 in the sixth over as he hit a crowd-pleasing 76 from just 35 balls including six sixes. Craig Ervine chipped in with a valuable 39 in the stand of 114 that took the side to safety.

Lee made an encouraging comeback from his broken thumb with 1 for 13 off four and Johnson led the figures with 4 for 23. Life was not as rosy for Nathan Hauritz, Daniel Christian and Shane Watson, who all went at 12 or more an over.

The Australians, who left out Shaun Tait and Cameron White, play a Windward Island XI on Thursday in their last chance to fire before their opening match of the tournament against Pakistan on Sunday. Zimbabwe face Sri Lanka on Monday in Guyana before running into New Zealand.

Zimbabwe also beat Australia in the first round of the 2007 World T20 in South Africa, where Australia went on to reach the semi-finals.

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

SCORECARD

Zimbabwe innings
H MASAKADZA c Christian b Lee 6
V SIBANDA b Nannes 3
B TAYLOR c Haddin b Johnson 15
C COVENTRY c Christian b Johnson 5
E CHIGUMBURA c Smith b Watson 76
C ERVINE c Watson b Johnson 39
T MARUMA c Smith b Johnson 3
C CHIBHABHA not out 5
A CREMER not out 0
Sundries (2b, 6lb, 12w, 1nb)
Total: 7-173
Fall: 1-11, 2-13, 3-35, 4-36, 5-150, 6-160, 7-171.
Bowling: Nannes 3-0-20-1, Lee 4-1-13-1, Hauritz 2-0-24-0, Johnson 4-0-23-4, Smith 3-0-22-0, Christian 2-0-29-0, Watson 2-0-34-1.
Overs: 20.

Australia innings
S WATSON c Chigumbura, b Utseya 2
D WARNER c& b Utseya 72
M CLARKE b Mpofu 49
D HUSSEY c Chibhabha b Utseya 16
B HADDIN run out 13
S SMITH run out 0
D CHRISTIAN not out 4
M JOHNSON run out 0
B LEE not out 0
Sundries (11lb 5w) 16
Total: 7-172
Fall: 1-17, 2-95, 3-130, 4-155, 5-156, 6-170, 7-171
Bowling: Utseya 4-0-27-2, Price 4-0-33-0, Chigumbura 4-0-40-0, Cremer 4-0-30-1, Maruma 2-0-18-0, Mpofu 2-1-13-1.
Overs: 20.

Result: Zimbabwe won by one run.

I was really pleasantly surprised to see that the Twenty20 international cricket match in Trinidad between Zimbabwe and the West Indies was to be shown on Sky and just managed to convince my wife that she really didn’t need to watch Lark Rise to Candleford as is her usual Sunday evening ritual. Before the game there was plenty to be optimistic about as the West Indies have only recently returned from Australia where they were truly thumped and Zim currently have a feel good factor with many past players like Grant Flower and Heath Streak returning in coaching roles as well as guys like Ray Price and Tatenda Taibu retuning as players.

After only a few overs I started to wonder if this was really a good idea because in just 16 deliveries, Zimbabwe had already lost three wickets to the left-arm spin of Benn with no score on board! This was going to be embarrassing!! Luckily Hamilton Masakadza managed to guts it out for his 44 and there was a late onslaught from Elton Chigumbura with his 19-ball 34 and Zimbabwe managed to go from 76 for 6 in 18 overs to 105 all out. Not a great score, but at least this wasn’t going to be too embarrassing.

Before the start of the game Zimbabwe’s captain Prosper Utseya said that the spinners were one of the side’s big strengths, and this turned out to be the case with the ball turning significantly, Zimbabwe used the slow bowlers for 18 of the 20 overs! Initially things did not look great as whilst Zim’s spinners were difficult to score off, the West Indian batsmen of Adrian Barath and Shivnarine Chanderpaul negotiated the first five overs, steering West Indies to 20 for 0.

What the slow scoring did do was build some pressure on the West Indians and in a flurry of attempted big hits from their batsmen, the home side imploded. Barath was bowled in the sixth over after being beaten by the turn when looking to clear the legside boundary, Andre Fletcher picked out the deep square leg fielder with a powerful sweep in the next over, Pollard was foxed by the flight and dip of Graeme Cremer in his first attempt at a signature lofted on-drive, and Darren Bravo picked up a golden duck after the ball kept low when he was trying a Hollywood pull shot. West Indies had stumbled to 32 for 4 and then when Offspinner Greg Lamb trapped the dangerous Shivnarine Chanderpaul lbw in the 12th over with a delivery that spun a lot less than the batsman expected, it was game on!

Zimbabwe had gone from disaster and possible real embarrassment, to posting a slightly respectable target and now they had a chance to win the game! The true character of all Zimbabweans fighting spirit was shining through, but I also remembered that we also have the habit of snatching defeat out of the hands of victory. Not this time – as from this stage, it was almost all Zimbabwe. Dwayne Smith threatened briefly and stand-in captain Denesh Ramdin battled till the end, but West Indies never really mounted a serious challenge. Zimbabwe had won!

Often sport is more than just a game and I just hope that with the return of the many cricketers to Zimbabwe it also means that many more of us will return to rebuild our great country, where we can all be winners.

Zimbabwe Cricket Books

Amazon, have a bunch of Zim related cricket books, including “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 Books 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