Zimbabwe recover after disastrous start
Darren Sammy…another fine bowling performance.
by Sidharth Monga, Cricinfo
On a beautiful sunny day at Arnos Vale, on a pitch that offered good bounce, Zimbabwe batsmen
found the going too touch….Read more…
On a beautiful sunny day at Arnos Vale, on a pitch that offered good bounce, the
Zimbabwe batsmen found the going too tough, took scoring out of their system for
long durations, and managed another below-par total. But for a fighting fifty
from Charles Coventry, who was inexplicably left out of the XIs so far, Zimbabwe
would have struggled to cross even 100.
What will hurt Zimbabwe, who are aiming for a Test return, more is that the
capitulation came on a day that Kemar Roach was rested. There was no
disconcerting seam movement either, just good carry. In home side’s fast
bowler’s absence, Darren Sammy and Ravi Rampaul produced the wicket-taking
deliveries to leave Zimbabwe in tatters at 25 for 5. The fifth wicket fell in
the 16th over, by which time Zimbabwe had hit just one boundary, and had failed
to score off 87 deliveries – 25 of them at a stretch. None of the top five
reached double figures, and Zimbabwe were flirting with their own record for the
lowest total in ODIs – 35.
Elton Chigumbura, easily Zimbabwe’s most confident batsman on the tour, started
to loosen the shackles with a 23-ball 19, and Coventry carried on, accelerating
from 21 off 42 to end up with 57 off 88.
As soon as Zimbabwe’s other confident batsman, Hamilton Masakadza, fell without
troubling the scorers, they were looking at a long struggle. Even before
Masakadza top-edged Rampaul while pulling a delivery slightly too full, another
important blow had been struck by Dave Bernard. Bowling a free-hit in the first
over of the innings, Bernard hit Vusi Sibanda in the right glove, and after that
Sibanda’s 49-ball stay for eight runs was painful in more ways than one.
Sibanda and Timycen Maruma shut shop like it was a national holiday, and went
more than four overs without scoring a run. When they did get a run, though,
there was no time for celebrations. Four balls later, Rampaul got Maruma to edge
one that bounced at him. At 11 for 1 after eight overs, Brendan Taylor brought
some intent to the middle, even managing a boundary in the 13th over,
off-driving a Dwayne Bravo half-volley, but Sammy pushed them back further in
the next few overs.
In the next over, he removed the two keepers, Taylor and Tatenda Taibu. Taylor
with a full delivery that moved in ever so slightly, and Taibu with the rising
delivery. Sibanda followed the exodus, pulling Sammy to deep square leg.
Chigumbura’s outlook was completely different, and so were the results. The
third ball he faced he cut powerfully. Even though he got an edge, the edge flew
over the slips because he had hit hard at it. Two important milestones were
crossed in the 18th and 19th overs: when Sammy bowled a wide down the leg side,
Zimbabwe reached 36, and with a push for a single Chigumbura became the first
man to cross single figures.
Slightly more free-flowing batting followed. Chigumbura smashed Sammy past cover
for four, Coventry lofted Bravo over mid-off. But with Coventry still
struggling, Chigumbura cut Keiron Pollard’s first delivery into point’s lap.
Along with Greg Lamb, Coventry added 57 for the seventh wicket. The fast bowlers
were taken off, scoring became easier, and both batted sensibly. It took a
freakish bit of work from Bravo to get rid of Coventry: off his own bowling he
kicked the ball from almost short cover to hit the stumps direct.
Inexplicably, too, Zimbabwe hadn’t made use of the batting Powerplay by then. In
fact they took it in the last five overs with the last two wickets left, and
only Graeme Cremer’s 25-ball 19 carried them past 150.
Sidharth Monga is a staff
writer at Cricinfo