Zimpapers Logo

Mehluli Sibanda in BULAWAYO—

ZIMBABWE tackle the West Indies in the sixth and final preliminary fixture of the triangular One-Day International cricket Challenge at Queens today with a place in Sunday’s final at stake.The winner of today’s contest will go on to meet Sri Lanka who booked their spot in the final with a dramatic one-run victory over the Windies on Wednesday.

While they defeated Sri Lanka by 62 runs to secure a bonus point in the second match of the series at Harare Sports Club, West Indies have had the inexperience in their batting line-up exposed in the two matches they have played at Queens.

Last Saturday, the Calypso Kings failed to get four runs in the last over against Zimbabwe in a match that ended in a tie.

On Wednesday, they again fell short in their run chase against Sri Lanka, something skipper Jason Holder attributed to lack of experience in their batting line-up.

“I think inexperience there is obviously situations where we are not accustomed to being in, it’s still a relatively young side and everybody is trying to make a mark,” he said.

“It boils down to inexperience, having that know how in the end to get us across the line.

“We were set in the beginning, quite nicely, Evin Lewis played an exceptional knock to put us in a situation that we were in but, unfortunately, we were not able to pull this off.”

Zimbabwe coach Heath Streak is aware that a win guarantees them a place in the final while a loss means that they are reduced to spectators on Sunday.

Streak described today’s encounter as a winner-take-all semi-final since the winner goes on to play in Sunday’s decider.

He feels they should have scored about 270 runs when they played West Indies last Saturday.

“Whoever wins out of these two teams is in the final, we want to win, we have to play to win, lots of things to improve from the last game, we should have gotten 270,” he said.

“We lost wickets at the end which slowed us down.”

There have been calls for either Chamunorwa Chibhabha or Brian Chari to be axed as the openers have not given Zimbabwe a good platform upfront with yet to be capped Tarisai Musakanda being suggested as an option.

Streak, however, believes Musakanda is not an opening alternative at this stage.

It is yet to be seen if Musakanda earns his international debut against the West Indies today and who makes way for him.

Craig Ervine, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams, Elton Chigumbura and Peter Moor hold the key with the bat for Zimbabwe.

Christopher Mpofu, Donald Tiripano, skipper Graeme Cremer, Tendai Chisoro and Williams carry the hopes for the home team with the ball.

For the visitors, their high expectations with the bat lie with Evin Lewis who powered his way to 148 against Sri Lanka and Shai Hope, who scored a century against Zimbabwe, Johnson Charles, Kraigg Brathwaite and Rovman Powell.

Holder is expected to spearhead the bowling attack with the aid of Shannon Gabriel, Sulieman Benn, Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse and Jonathan Carter.

Teams

Zimbabwe: Graeme Cremer (captain), Brian Chari, Tarisai Musakanda, Carl Mumba, Christopher Mpofu, Hamilton Masakadza, Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Craig Ervine, Sean Williams, Peter Moor, Donald Tiripano, Tinashe Panyangara, Sikandar Raza, Malcolm Waller, Elton Chigumbura, Tendai Chisoro

West Indies: Jason Holder (captain), Carlos Brathwaite, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shane Dowrich, Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Johnson Charles, Shannon Gabriel, Evin Lewis, Sunil Narine, Ashley Nurse, Sulieman Benn, Miguel Cummins, Shai Hope, Rovman Powell