The Zimbabwe’s run to the final of this tri-series has been impressive as they have not just been winning their games, but winning them well and do look like a team full of confidence and one that knows how to win. I have been a Zim cricket fan for yonks and rarely, if ever have I seen them chase down targets with such ease and confidence before.

After impressive wins against India and the demolishing of Sri Lanka by eight wickets on Monday, Zimbabwe a now just one game away from their first triumph in a multi-nation tournament involving Test-playing nations and you can watch it live or keep up-to-date with all the important events as they happen on this page:

FREE – Watch Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka Live

Live streaming of the Zimbabwe Sri Lanka game is available on-line through BetFair of all places!

Betfair is an online betting community and all you have to do is create 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.

Zimbabwe
So far in this tournament Zimbabwe have only had one bad day and that was against Sri Lanka, hopefully they can keep their nerves together and play as well as they know they can. What is encouraging is they look like a team that are enjoying their cricket: the choreographed dance between Ray Price and Chris Mpofu and Hamilton Masakadza’s ‘just married’ are examples of this.

Zimbabwe will be hoping that their opening pair of Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza can continue with their fine form and that their “spin army” continue to not only tie down the Sri Lankans, but take wickets. Greg Lamb and Andy Blignaut will probably return to the team after missing the last game.

Squad: Elton Chigumbura (Captain), 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 Sri Lanka lost to Zimbabwe on Monday, they are still the best team in the tournament and must go into this game as favourites. Angelo Mathews and Nuwan Kulasekara, an excellent new-ball bowler may return for the final after missing the last game and are sure to strengthen the team.

Squad: TM Dilshan (Captain), 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

Date and Time of the game
The match kicks off on the 7th 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

Latest Match Updates:

I will be post updates here throughout the day, as well as on my twitter feed and the Chirundu facebook page.

3:26pm (Zim time) That’s it, Sri Lanka Beat Zim by 9 wickets (with 92 balls remaining) – All too easy for them in the end, but well played Zim for reaching the final.

2:55pm (Zim time) Finally a wicket for Zimbabwe, but far too little far to late. WU Tharanga run out 72 (79b 8×4 1×6) SR: 91.13. Sri Lanka 160/1 (25.5 ov) Sri Lanka require another 40 runs with 9 wickets and 24.1 overs remaining

2:00pm (Zim time) Sri Lanka looking good: Sri Lanka 82/0 (13.0 ov) Required Run Rate 3.18

12:10pm (Zim time) Wicket: That’s it Zimbabwe all out for 199. Last wicket: CB Mpofu run out 6 (9b 0×4 0×6) SR: 66.66

12:05pm (Zim time) Wicket: Clean bowled, Graeme Cremer b Fernando 5 (10b 0×4 0×6) SR: 50.00. Zimbabwe 189/8 (45.5 ov) Zimbabwe in danger of not completing their overs.

11:55am (Zim time) Wicket: Charles Coventry looking to be aggressive, went down the track and heaved it straight to long-on. CK Coventry c Tharanga b BMAJ Mendis 18 (12b 3×4 0×6) SR: 150.00. Zimbabwe now 178/7 (43.3 ov)

11:48am (Zim time) Wicket: Greg Lamb is bowled by BMAJ Mendis for 37 (65b 1×4 0×6) SR: 56.92. Zimbabwe 163/6 (41.4 ov) – run rate 3.91

11:42am (Zim time) Wicket: Elton Chigumbura trying to up the pace, looses his wicket.Zimbabwe 155/5 (40.1 ov). Next man in is Charles Coventry

11:27am (Zim time) Wicket, Tatenda Taibu out for 71 and Zimbabwe are now 139/4 after 35 overs. Also slow going for Zim with a run rate of only 3.87. T Taibu c Kapugedera b Fernando 71 (93b 4×4 0×6) SR: 76.34

10:25am (Zim time) Zimbabwe loose their third wicket, Craig Ervine run out. Zimbabwe now 49/3. Greg Lamb is the new batsman.

9:45am (Zim time) Wicket: ogh no, Taylor gone Zimbabwe now 29/2 (9.3 ov). Brendan Taylor caught Samaraweera bowled Fernando 19 (22b 3×4 0×6) SR: 86.36. Craig Ervine is the new batsman.

9:21am (Zim time) Wicket: After a slow start Zimbabwe loose their first wicket, Zimbabwe 11/1 (4.5 ov). Hamilton Masakadza caught †Chandimal b Kulasekara 4 (23b 0×4 0×6) SR: 17.39. Tatenda Taibu is the new batsman.

Toss: Sri Lanka have won the toss and have chosen to field. Important toss as in every game so far in this tournament, the side batting second has gone on to win. Zimbabwe now need to change that stat.

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 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 “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

In what is to be a preview of the final on the 9th of June, Zimbabwe take on Sri Lanka in the 5th ODI of the Tri-series between India, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka and will be played in Harare on 7th June 2010. After Zim’s record breaking second win against India on Thursday, Zimbabwe will go into this match with much confidence, but must play much petter than when these two teams last met where Sri Lanka easily beat Zimbabwe.

FREE – Watch Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka Live

Live streaming of the Zimbabwe Sri Lanka game is available on-line through BetFair of all places!

Betfair is an online betting community and all you have to do is create 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.

Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe will be looking to continue their winning momentum against what is probably the best team in the tournament and in fact Zimbabwe last beat Sri Lanka in an ODI way back in April 2003, in Sharjah. But Zim can take many positives into the game as well as belief from their batting and especially their performance against India on Thursday. In all five games so far, the team chasing has won and so we can either hope that Elton Chigumbura wins the battle of the toss or if not, use this game as a chance for the team batting first to get sufficient practice in case they are put in again in the final.

Look out for Charles Coventry, who Since his record-breaking unbeaten 194 against Bangladesh last year, has scored just one fifty and needs to show some more consistency in the middle order and prove that his knock was no fluke. His 32 was important in Zimbabwe’s win against India in the first match, but in the next two games, he scored just 11 and 20.

Squad: Elton Chigumbura (Captain), 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
After beating India on Saturday and easily beating Zim when the two teams last met, Sri Lanka will not be short on confidence and must enter the game as clear favourites, however Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan said after Saturday’s game that they will look to experiment before the final and try out some of the players in the bench wich could weaken the team for this game.

Squad: TM Dilshan (Captain), 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

Date and Time of the game
The match kicks off on the 7th 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

Latest Updates:

3:52pm (Zim Time) That’s it, Zimbabwe now beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets – fantastically well played by the whole team, especially Brendan Taylor, with some great backup from Tatenda Taibu and Chamu Chibhabha. Zimbabwe’s bowlers must also take credit to bowl Sri Lanka all out restricting them to 236.

3:52pm (Zim Time) A century for Brendan Taylor: 100 not out, that’s his second century in one day cricket. Zimbabwe 210/2. Zimbabwe require another 27 runs with 8 wickets and 35 balls remaining.

3:07pm (Zim Time) Wicket: Zimbabwe 148/2 (31.4 ov) – Chamu Chibhabha lbw bowled Dilshan 58 (81b 4×4 1×6) SR: 71.60. Zimbabwe require another 89 runs with 8 wickets and 18.2 overs remaining. Required Run Rate 4.85

2:22pm (Zim Time) Zimbabwe going strong: 84/1 (16.4 ov). Zimbabwe require another 153 runs with 9 wickets and 33.1 overs remaining.

1:24pm (Zim Time) Zimbabwe loose their first wicket: Zimbabwe 14/1 (4.2 ov) H Masakadza caught †Chandimal b Thushara 3 (15b 0×4 0×6) SR: 20.00. Zimbabwe require another 223 runs with 9 wickets and 45.4 overs remaining

12:16pm (Zim Time) Wicket Sri Lanka all out for 236 (47.5 ov) – not many teams bowl Sri Lanka out within their 50 overs, so great stuff Zim. Can they chase it down?

12:14pm (Zim Time) Wicket, great catch! Sri Lanka 235/8 (47.2 ov) T Thushara c Brendan Taylor bowled Ray Price 7 (8b 0×4 1×6) SR: 87.50

11:59am (Zim Time) Wicket, another one, two in one over! HDRL Thirimanne c Taylor b Mpofu 15 (21b 0×4 0×6) SR: 71.42 – great over from Chris Mpofu, 2 wickets and only 2 runs.

11:55am (Zim Time) Wicket, clean bowled: Sri Lanka 118/7 (44.2 ov) – NLTC Perera bowled Chris Mpofu 8 (16b 0×4 0×6) SR: 50.00

11:37am (Zim Time) Wicket, falling like flies at the moment: Sri Lanka 199/6 (39.4 ov) – TT Samaraweera run out 16 (31b 1×4 0×6) SR: 51.61

11:27am (Zim Time) Wicket: Sri Lanka 192/5 (37.5 ov) – BMAJ Mendis caught Brendan Taylor bowled Graeme Cremer 7 (8b 1×4 0×6) SR: 87.50

11:15am (Zim Time) Wicket: Sri Lanka 181/4 (35.3 ov) – WU Tharanga caught Charles Coventry bowled Graeme Cremer for 69 (84m 97b 5×4 0×6) SR: 71.13

10:50am (Zim Time) Wicket: Sri Lanka 155/3 (29.3 ov) – newly married, Hamilton Masakadza is the bowler as CK Kapugedera is caught for 12

10:34am (Zim Time) Wicket: Sri Lanka 134/2 – Dinesh Chandimal c Masakadza b Utseya 6 (13b 0×4 0×6) SR: 46.15

10:22am (Zim Time) Zim take their first wicket Sri Lanka 122/1 – TM Dilshan st Tatenda Taibu b Prosper Utseya 78 (66b 9×4 2×6) SR: 118.18

10:14am (Zim Time) Sri Lanka going well: 104/0 (18.0 ov) – Tillakaratne Dilshan 63, Upul Tharanga 39

Toss Zimbabwe won the toss and chose to field.

Pitch Report: Allan Donald thinks it looks a beautiful wicket and there shouldn’t be much moisture in it. The ball might stop a touch on the batsmen in the early part of the game.

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 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 “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