Chigumbura hails Chibhabha

chamuSports Reporter
ZIMBABWE cricket skipper Elton Chigumbura has hailed opening batsman Chamu Chibhabha who seems to have struck a rich vein of form following outstanding performances in the recent tour by India.

Chibhabha was voted man-of-the-match after leading the side to their maiden T20 match win over India with a quality half ton at Harare Sports Club on Sunday.

The Mashonaland Eagles batsman stood out for Zimbabwe in the series which ended in 1-1 draw as he finished the shortest version of the game sitting at the top of the runs table.

Zimbabwe have often struggled with their top order and Chibhabha provided the solid performance they needed to finish with 90 runs in two innings.

He also scored two classy half centuries in the three-match One Day International series despite Zimbabwe losing all the matches.

He was the second prolific run getter in the 50-over matches after India’s Ambati Rayadu. Chibhabha amassed 157 runs against Rayadu’s 165 at an average of 52.33.

“Chamu batted well and it’s a good thing to have a guy who opens the innings to be in that kind of form. It was great for him and it was great for the team as well. It’s one of the positives from this tour,” said Chigumbura.

“Again, I felt that the bowlers did well especially if you look at the second T20 which we won. But one negative that we still need to deal with is the inability to get wickets and finish off matches after starting on good footing.

“Had we managed to have the killer instinct, I am sure we could have at least won one of the ODIs.

“The bowlers performed well in the first and the last ODIs where they put the Indian batsmen under pressure in the first 20 or so overs but we couldn’t finish off.

“But on Sunday there was a good feeling in the changing room. We reminded each other that we need to keep winning more often so that we maintain the spirit.”

Zimbabwe are now set to welcome New Zealand who arrive next week for three ODIs and one T20 international in Harare.

The first match will be played on August 2.

The Zimbabwe players took a brief break on Sunday and will regroup on Thursday to begin preparations for the tour. Chigumbura was rested for the last T20 as a precaution after a hamstring strain but is confident he will recover on time for the visit by the Black Caps.

“We are looking forward to it. It’s good New Zealand are coming at least when we have been playing some international cricket. I think the more we play with such regularity the more we familiarize with our mistakes and try to correct them. Obviously they are a different team and they offer a different challenge but at the end of the day, playing them would give us the platform to work on our game.

“It will help us to get to the levels we want to reach. So we have to be more positive, we won our last match and we need to maintain the spirit,” said Chigumbura.

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