The Zimbabwe cricket captain, Brendan Taylor has signed to play in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) with Chittagong Kings.

Taylor’s agent said that he had signed for Brendan to join the Chittagong Kings for the last three games and the finals in the BPL. He went on to say that “The deal was negotiated directly by us with the owner and CEO, Sameer Quader Chowdhury, of the Chittagong Kings.”

Taylor is not new to playing for an overseas team as he also recently played in New Zealand’s domestic Twenty20 league for Wellington, where he scored career-best 101.

In his short career, Taylor has already played 54 Twenty20s and averages a respectable 31 at a very healthy strike-rate of 122.04.

Chittagong are currently in third place in the BPL, two behind joint leaders, Khulna Royal Bengals and Duronto Rajshahi.

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

There is a currently a rebirth taking place in Zimbabwe, especially when it comes to cricket. The recently completed Stanbic Twenty20 series was a huge success where some ageing and some top current cricketers from all around the globe combined with the locals to put on a cricket tournament of significant quality.

The explosive final between Mashonaland Eagles and MidWest Rhinos went down to the last ball and attracted a record crowd of about 10 000 fans at Harare Sports Club on Sunday.

The Eagles staggered home to a one-run victory that gave them the trophy and a defining triumph in a quality field.

The Stanbic Twenty20 series staged a coup by luring West Indies legend Brian Lara to come out of retirement and play one more time and there were also a number of other quality players, coming from all around the globe. These included Lou Vincent, the former New Zealand opener; Chris Harris also from New Zealand, the ultimate dibbly-dobbly bowler and bits and pieces player; Nick Compton, grandson of the legendary Denis; Ryan ten Doeschate, the highly rated Dutch all-rounder, born in Port Elizabeth but playing for Essex; Andrew Hall, the one-time Protea; Riki Wessels, son of Kepler, playing for Northamptonshire and rated as a future England wicketkeeper; Paul Horton, an Australian-born Lancashire opening batsman, and Lance “Zulu” Klusener another South African.

All the Stanbic Twenty20 games were also shown live on SuperSport for the African audience and were also screened in Asia where cricket has its biggest market.

After the final, Zimbabwe Cricket chief executive Ozias Bvute said that “Twenty20 is a global phenomenon and we used it to attract a new cricket audience in Zimbabwe and we believe that once we have that audience, it will then be easier to transfer their allegiance to other forms of cricket in this country, including the 50-overs game.

“We will need to do a lot more work to convince people about the relevance of the longer version of cricket but that’s a challenge that we are ready for.”

Bvute said the sight of a full-house at Harare Sports Club on Sunday was a vindication of their efforts to try and take the game to the people.

He also went on to say that “It has always been our wish for cricket to grow out of being just a minority sport into a genuine national sport and I think the support that the public has shown is indicative that we are well on our way to achieve that.”

In related news, Zimbabwe have also named their squad for the tour to Bangladesh, where they will go into the series looking for their first ODI victory since they beat Ireland in September, but will face a Bangladesh side buoyant after their recent 4-0 drubbing of New Zealand.

Elton Chigumbura (capt), Tatenda Taibu (wk), Brendan Taylor, Hamilton Masakadza, Shingi Masakadza, Regis Chakabva, Chamu Chibhabha, Raymond Price, Ryan Butterworth, Craig Ervine, Prosper Utseya, Keith Dabengwa, Chris Mpofu, Keegan Meth

Zimbabwe Cricket Books

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

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 play India in two Twenty20 games this weekend and even though Zimbabwe recently lost to Sri Lanka in the final of the One day international tri-nation series, they still have many reasons to feel confident. During the group stages they beat India twice and Sri Lanka once, finishing top of the table. In the twenty20 format of the game, they have also had some recent successes, beating Australia and Pakistan in the warm up games to the Twenty20 World cup.

Whilst the two teams have played each other many times recently, this will be the first game between these two sides in the Twenty20 format. So far India have 12 wins and 11 defeats, while Zimbabwe have only played ten Twenty20 games, winning three of them.

FREE – Watch Zimbabwe vs India Live Online

You can watch live streaming of the two Zimbabwe India games live on-line through BetFair

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 Games 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 games
Both games take place in Harare, the first match kicks off on Saturday 12th June at 1pm local time (11am GMT), or 12pm British Summer Time. The second game is on Sunday the 13th June at 1pm local time (11am GMT), or 12pm British Summer Time.

Zimbabwe
Zim’s spinners are their strongest card, depriving opposing teams of easy runs, forcing them into mistakes and then taking wickets. In the batting department, keep an eye out for the openers Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor who both go into the game with some great form. Brendan Taylor in particular was almost unstoppable in the tri-series, and will look to cash in with some more runs over the weekend.

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

India
India seem to be of the opinion of “If you can’t beat them, join them” and they have four spinners to choose from, in addition to two spinning allrounders, of whom Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha will expect to make the cut. The seamers were pretty much to a man unimpressive in the ODIs, and it could be a toss-up between Umesh Yadav, Ashok Dinda and Pankaj Singh for two spots. Lack of options could force the side to field Dinesh Karthik and Yusuf Pathan, both notable exclusions for the Asia Cup..

Possible Indian Team: 1 M Vijay, 2 Dinesh Karthik/Naman Ojha (wk), 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Pragyan Ojha, 10 and 11 Two out of Ashok Dinda, Umesh Yadav and Pankaj Singh.

 Loading ...

Latest Updates:

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

Game Over: India 112/4 (15.0/20 ov), India won by 6 wickets (with 30 balls remaining). Zimbabwe just didn’t make enough and it was clear from the start. Had they scored 160, this would have been an interesting chase. India looked jittery against Mpofu in the beginning and threatened to make heavy weather of this chase but Pathan eased the nerves with some big hits.

3:14pm Another Wicket, this is starting to get interesting again: India 48/4 (7.4/20 ov). RG Sharma stumped †Tatenda Taibu bowled Ray Price 10 (15b 1×4 0×6) SR: 66.66

3:12pm Wicket: SK Raina caught Chigumbura bowled Ray Price 28 (17b 3×4 1×6) SR: 164.70. India 47/3 (7.2/20 ov). India require another 65 runs with 7 wickets and 12.4 overs remaining.

2:52pm Zim needed early wickets and they now have 2: India 12/2 (2.5/20 ov). India require another 100 runs with 8 wickets and 17.1 overs remaining. Last wicket: NV Ojha caught †Tatenda Taibu bowled Chris Mpofu 2 (9b 0×4 0×6) SR: 22.22

2:44pm Zim off to a good start, Mpofu Strikes: India 7/1 (1.0/20 ov) M Vijay c Utseya b Mpofu 5 (5b 1×4 0×6) SR: 100.00. India require another 105 runs with 9 wickets and 19.0 overs remaining.

1:29pm End of Zim’s innings – was hard to watch the end of that as Zimbabwe played terribly. Lets hope that the bowlers can do better when India come out to bat. Zimbabwe 111/9 (20.0/20 ov).

1:19pm Hard to watch this – Zim playing terribly, now 108/9 (19.4/20 ov)

1:12pm Wicket: Craig Ervine (b Dinda 30). Zimbabwe 103/7 after 18.3 overs

11:44am Ogh no, another two wickets in quick succession, Zimbabwe now 81/6 (13.3/20 ov) – not looking good for Zim. Last two wickets: E Chigumbura c Vijay b PP Ojha 3 (9b 0×4 0×6) and GA Lamb lbw b PP Ojha 0 (1b 0×4 0×6)

11:44am Wicket: Zimbabwe 73/4 (10.3/20 ov) CJ Chibhabha lbw b Chawla 40 (30b 5×4 1×6) SR: 133.33. Zimbabwe Run Rate 6.95

11:44am Zimbabwe* vs India, 57 / 3 in 7.0 overs – RR 8.14, Craig Ervine 3(6b), Chamu Chibhabha 29(20b), Pragyan 2.0-0-8-0.

Zimbabwe Dancing Girls

11:15am Zimbabwe fight back, but also loose another wicket: Brendan Taylor lbw bowled Vinay Kumar 15 (9b 2×4 1×6) SR: 166.66. Zimbabwe 30/2 (3.0/20 ov) Run Rate 10.58

11:02am Ogh no Zimbabwe loose their first wicket very early – Hamilton Masakadza c Raina b Vinay Kumar 1 (3b 0×4 0×6) SR: 33.33 and that brings Chamu Chibhabha into bat. Zimbabwe 2/1 (0.4/20 ov)

11:00am Zimbabwe team news: ED Rainsford and Chamu Chibhabha are in replacing Charles Coventry and Graeme Cremer.

Toss India have won the toss and have decided to bowl first.

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.