Zimbabwe Cricket welcomes Bangladesh to restart their test career again this month.

The first and only Test match against Bangladesh will be played from 4th to the 8th of August 2011 at Harare Sports Club with Brendan Taylor leading the Zimbabwean side.

Cricket Zimbabwe withdrew from Test Cricket almost 6 years ago in September 2005 and the hope is that now with some major rebuilding they should be good enough to be competitive.

Test Cricket provides great opportunity for Cricket in Zimbabwe, and now its up to Cricket Zimbabwe, their coach and players on how they grab it and bring back good years of Zimbabwean Cricket.

Zimbabwe Squad News
Brendan Taylor (capt), Regis Chakabva, Elton Chigumbura, Craig Ervine, Hamilton Masakadza, Tino Mawoyo, Keegan Meth, Chris Mpofu, Ray Price, Vusi Sibanda, Tatenda Taibu (wk), Prosper Utseya, Brian Vitori

Test cricket presented the Zimbabwean selectors with an issue of getting the right balance to the side, this was probably not felt quite as acutely as in the limited-overs sides that have recently been selected.

The dependable Tatenda Taibu looks most likely to keep wicket, but Zimbabwe will probably have to break up one of their most dependable bowling partnerships, as only one of either Utseya and Ray Price are expected to be included in the team. While both men are automatic selections in limited-overs cricket, Zimbabwe are attempting to move away from their reliance on spin as they re-enter the Test arena.

It is also probably safe to assume that Chris Mpofu will take the new ball, it’s not entirely clear whether Vitori or Keegan Meth will partner him.

Probably Zimbabwe’s biggest weakness is their opening pair of Vusi Sibanda and Tino Mawoyo. Whilst they were able to hang on for almost 55 overs in the first innings of Zimbabwe’s match against Australia in Harare two weeks ago, neither gave you the feeling that they were very comfortable.

Bangladesh tour Zimbabwe 2011 Fixture Details
Thu Aug 4 – Mon Aug 8: Only Test – Zimbabwe v Bangladesh at Harare Sports Club

Where to Buy Blood, Sweat and Treason

Currently available in Hardcover it is available online through Amazon, in the UK and US

UK
Blood, Sweat and Treason on Amazon.co.uk

USA

Blood, Sweat and Treason on Amazon.com

ODI Series Fixtures

Zim also take on Bangladesh in a series of one day internationals:

• First ODI: 12 August, Harare
• Second ODI: 14 August, Harare
• Third ODI: 16 August, Harare
• Fourth ODI: 19 August, Bulawayo
• Fifth ODI: 21 August, Bulawayo

Zimbabwe take on Canada in their second match in this years ICC Cricket World Cup and I am sure all Zimbos around the globe would like to wish Zimbabwe the best of luck.

Zimbabwe vs Canada Live Video Streaming
You can now also watch live video streaming of the game right here on Chirundu.com:

Game Over

Zimbabwe 298/9 (50 ov) | Canada 123 (42.1 ov)
Zimbabwe won by 175 runs

This was a no-contest from the time Taibu and Ervine put on in one partnership more than what Canada could get. Zimbabwe were solid, Canada hopeless. Tatenda Taibu top scored with 98 and Craig Ervine put on 85. The pick of the Zimbabwe bowlers was Ray Price who got 3 for 16.

This was Zim’s fourth-biggest win in ODIs by a runs margin and their most emphatic in a World Cup.

Preview & the Game So Far

Even though Zimbabwe lost to Australia last week, they can be pretty proud of putting up a good performance and so should go into this game with a good deal of confidence.

End of Zimbabwe Innings: Zim 298/9 (RR: 5.96)
Zimbabwe have managed to post a pretty challenging score, though we looked good to get much more when Taibu and Ervine were going strong. But once again the batting let us down a little and Zim lost five for 52 at one stage with Balaji chipping in with wickets in the middle overs. Nevetheless, Canada have a daunting task ahead of them. It could come down to how they handle spin. Zimbabwe have three specialist spinners and enough part-timers, do Canada have the wherewithal to combat them?

At the Toss

Zimbabwe won the toss in the battle of the reds at Nagpur and Elton Chigumbura decided to bat first against Canada. Chigumbura implied that the reason for this was that he'd like to give his batsmen the chance to find some form and set up a good total for his spinners to bowl at.

The Canadian captain, Ashish Bagai, did not seem too upset with losing the toss and said he would've have bowled first anyway in the hope of taking advantage of any life in the wicket first thing in the morning.

It's not often that Zimbabwe start as such overwhelming favourites, but they can't afford to take this opposition lightly. Canada have boldly stated that wins over Kenya and Zimbabwe were their goals coming into this tournament, and although their only ODI against the Zimbabweans, at Port of Spain in May 2006, resulted in a 143-run thrashing they've had more joy in Twenty20s. At King City in October 2008 they fought to a tie, only to concede the match in a bowl-off.

As usual spin is our strength with the trio of Ray Price, Graeme Cremer and Prosper Utseya restraining the batsmen. The Zimbabwe Spinners in the last game against Australia in fact, bowled 39 of the 50 overs and did very well, it was the the batting that failed the team. There is significant experience in the top and middle orders but the bulk of the responsibility in Zimbabwe's chase fell on those lower down the list. On what is expected to be a flat pitch, against a Canadian attack, Zimbabwe's batsmen have the right opportunity to get into the groove.

People to look out for include Charles Coventry - Since his incredible, record-equalling 194 against Bangladesh, he hasn't quite lived up to his potential. He is an attacking batsman who is exciting to watch when in full flow. His last 18 innings have just brought him one half-century. He's got starts, a spate of scores between 10 and 20, but his failure to push on has undermined, somewhat, the hype around him after that landmark achievement.

Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura hinted his team would retain its three-pronged spin attack. They could go in with an unchanged team. They have seamer Shingirai Masakadza, allrounder Tinashe Panyangara and left-hand batsman Terry Duffin in the 15-man squad as well.

Zimbabwe team
1 Brendan Taylor, 2 Charles Coventry, 3 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 4 Craig Ervine, 5 Sean Williams, 6 Greg Lamb, 7 Elton Chigumbura (capt), 8 Prosper Utseya, 9 Graeme Cremer, 10 Ray Price, 11 Chris Mpofu

Canada team
1 Nitish Kumar, 2 John Davison, 3 Ruvindu Gunasekara, 4 Ashish Bagai (capt/wk), 5 Jimmy Hansra, 6 Zubin Surkari, 7 Tyson Gordon, 8 Rizwan Cheema, 9 Khurram Chohan, 10 Harvir Baidwan, 11 Balaji Rao

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

Where to Buy Blood, Sweat and Treason

Currently available in Hardcover it is available online through Amazon, in the UK and US

UK
Blood, Sweat and Treason on Amazon.co.uk

USA

Blood, Sweat and Treason on Amazon.com

Chirundu.com and I am sure all Zimbos around the globe would like to wish Zimbabwe the best of luck against Australia today in their opening game of the 2011 cricket world cup.

Zimbabwe vs Australia Live Video Streaming
You can now also watch live video streaming of the game right here on Chirundu.com:

Game Over

Australia 262 for 6 (Watson 79, Clarke 58*, Mpofu 2-58) beat Zimbabwe 171 (Cremer 37, Johnson 4-19, Tait 2-34) by 91 runs

Highlights

History tells us that Australia should win, having lost only once in their inaugural encounter in the 1983 World Cup by 13 runs. There have been a few other instances when Zimbabwe did run Australia close (twice at Perth – 1994 when Australia won by two wickets, and 2001 when they won by one run), but Australia’s firepower have almost always prevailed.

But the Zimbabweans have kept an eye on Australia's performance during the warm-up matches, when they struggled against top-quality spin. Ray Price, Prosper Utseya and Graeme Cremer are not quite the same as Harbhajan Singh, but spin is the strength of Zimbabwe and Australia will need to force the pace for much of their innings.

* Head-to-head record Total played: 27. Australia wins: 25; Zimbabwe wins: 1; NR: 1
* In the sub-continent: 6. Australia wins: 6; Zimbabwe wins: 0 In the World Cups: 8. Australia wins: 7; Zimbabwe wins: 1

Zimbabwe team
BRM Taylor, CK Coventry, T Taibu†, SC Williams, CR Ervine, E Chigumbura*, P Utseya, SW Masakadza, AG Cremer, CB Mpofu, RW Price

Australia team
SR Watson, BJ Haddin†, RT Ponting*, MJ Clarke, CL White, DJ Hussey, SPD Smith, MG Johnson, SW Tait, JJ Krejza, B Lee

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

Where to Buy Blood, Sweat and Treason

Currently available in Hardcover it is available online through Amazon, in the UK and US

UK
Blood, Sweat and Treason on Amazon.co.uk

USA

Blood, Sweat and Treason on Amazon.com

Even though they were not the toughest opponents, Zimbabwe has impressed by winning their first two world cup warm up games.

Zimbabwe vs Ireland
An unbeaten half-century by Brendan Taylor helped Zimbabwe to easily chase down Ireland’s total of 204 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Taylor played the anchor role, scoring 84 off 121 balls, as Zimbabwe needed just 43.5 overs to pick up a six-wicket win. Craig Ervine also shined for Zimbabwe with the bat, scoring 47.

Earlier, we had managed to restrict Ireland to a low total thanks to our spinners. Offspinner Greg Lamb took 3 for 30 in his 10 overs, while Ray Price and Graeme Cremer took three wickets between them and were both economical. Ireland had got off to a solid start, with opener William Porterfield scoring 66 and Ed Joyce getting 45. They were 111 for 1 at one stage, but lost wickets quickly once the spinners came on and were bowled out in 48.1 overs.

Zimbabwe vs Netherlands
Zim made short work of Netherlands at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, scoring 249 and then bowling the Netherlands all out for just 134. Brendan Taylor made another half-century at the top of the order and Tatenda Taibu and Regis Chakabva alsom made useful contributions.

Zimbabwe did slip to 158 for 7 at one stage, but then in came Graeme Cremer who made a run-a-ball 42, and together with Prosper Utseya and Shingirai Masakadza took Zimbabwe to the brink of 250.

Chris Mpofu and Elton Chigumbura tore through Netherlands after Ed Rainsford had provided an early breakthrough, taking six wickets between them. Netherlands lost regular wickets and were never in the game, getting bowled out for 134 in the 34th over. Opener Alexei Kervezee’s 33 was the highest score for them. Bukhari hammered two sixes in his 28 and Bradley Kruger three fours in his 22, but there was not much else to cheer about.

Zimbabwe overcame a stubborn Shakib Al Hasan and claimed a rare victory on foreign soil beating Bangladesh by nine runs in the opening one-dayer in Mirpur.

To be honest, the margin of victory did not do justice to the Zimbabwe, especially their spinners who were in total control for most of the Bangladesh run chase.

After being put into bat, Zimbabwe were bowled out for a rather poor 209. Like Bangladesh, Zim faltered against the spinners after making a sound start through Brendan Taylor and Chamu Chibhabha, who put on 53 for the opening wicket in 10 overs.

Zimbabwe lost their last five wickets for 25 runs, with left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo and Mahmudullah finishing with two wickets apiece. Only Regis Chakabva (45) and Craig Ervine (41) managed to get Zimbabwe to a decent total.

But it was in Zimbabwe’s bowling department and Bangladesh’s poor running between the wickets where the game was won.

Christopher Mpofu finished with 3-25 and left-arm spinner Ray Price took 2-29 off 10 disciplined overs as the tourists finally bowled Bangladesh out for 200.

This result sees Zimbabwe end their seven-match losing run away from home and matched their win in the opening game of the five-match series in Bangladesh last October, which they ended up losing 4-1.

Scorecard

Scorecard from the first one-day international between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Wednesday:

Result: Zimbabwe won by nine runs.

Zimbabwe innings: B. Taylor st Rahim b Razzak 27 C. Chibhabha b Razzak 24 R. Chakabva c&b Mahmudullah 45 E. Chigumbura b Razzak 7 T. Taibu c Zunaed b Sohrawordi 14 C. Ervine c Ashraful b Shakib 41 P. Utseya c Sohrawordi b Mahmudullah 21 K. Dabengwa c Shakib b Razzak 8 K. Meth st Rahim b Sohrawordi 3 R. Price not out 1 C. Mpofu run out 2 Extras (lb-4 w-12) 16 Total (all out; 49 overs) 209

Fall of wickets: 1-53 2-58 3-71 4-94 5-159 6-184 7-201 8-204 9-207 10-209

Bowling: Mortaza 6-0-36-0 (w-1), Shafiul 4-0-21-0 (w-1), Razzak 10-1-41-4 (w-1), Sohrawordi 10-2-32-2, Shakib 10-0-37-1, Mahmudullah 9-1-38-2 (w-3)

Bangladesh innings: T. Iqbal lbw b Mpofu 23 I. Kayes c Chakabva b Price 41 Z. Siddique run out 11 M. Ashraful b Utseya 6 S. Hasan c Meth b Mpofu 63 M. Rahim b Price 1 M. Sohrawordi run out 11 Mahmudullah c Chibhabha b Mpofu 14 M. Mortaza run out 12 A. Razzak not out 5 S. Islam run out 3 Extras (lb-2 w-8) 10 Total (all out; 49 overs) 200

Fall of wickets: 1-44 2-76 3-82 4-89 5-98 6-115 7-169 8-187 9-195 10-200

Bowling: Mpofu 9-0-25-3, Meth 8-0-50-0, Utseya 10-0-35-1 (w-1), Price 10-1-29-2 (w-2), Dabengwa 5-0-32-0, Taylor 7-0-27-0 (w-1)

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

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

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.