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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE cricket team head coach Heath Streak hopes his players will adjust fast to the new conditions when they take on neighbours South Africa in the ground-breaking four-day day/night Test match at St. Georges Park in Port Elizabeth starting tomorrow.

The Southern Africa neighbours are cognisant the whole world will be looking as they enter into the unchartered frontiers of Test cricket after the International Cricket Council granted them the green light to feature in the first ever Test to be played inside four games, instead of the traditional five.

But that’s not Streak’s major concern at the moment. The former Zimbabwe international wants his charges to be as competitive as they could be against their highly ranked neighbours, although to expect Zimbabwe to win this match could be a little bit too much.

“Obviously we haven’t played a lot under lights recently and particularly against the pink ball so I think just understanding the conditions and what the pink ball does (is important).

“Definitely there is a lot more that happens when the lights comes on and later in the game. So it’s almost as far as the reverse of the red ball where it actually does probably a little less and a bit more at night.

“So that’s something that we have to really think about and may play it tactical in terms of how we go about it,” said Streak.

The Chevrons sampled what it means playing under the lights in a three-day practice match against the South Africa XI at Boland Park last week and they lost by five wickets.

The match was part of the final leg of preparations having spent 10 days in South Africa to acclimatise with the conditions ahead of the much-publicised pink ball Boxing Day Test tomorrow.

But their batting frailties were brought to the fore and Streak has now left it to the individual players to prove their technique after they had a couple of practice sessions under the lights.

Zimbabwe were bowled out for 196 and 243 in the practice game but on the positive side there were half centuries for Hamilton Masakadza, newboy Ryan Burl and Chamu Chibhabha.

“Obviously we weren’t as happy as we would have liked to be with our batting, so that’s an area we’ve addressed and we need to hopefully be able to get some runs on the board come this Test match,” said Streak.

“I was disappointed with our batting but I think it was valuable practice for us to get some batting (experience) under light. A lot of us haven’t batted under lights in a long time and especially against the pink ball.

“Hopefully the guys have taken away some lessons from it. We fought very hard to come back late in the second innings and make a game of it so I’m pretty happy.

“The bowling was pretty decent and hopefully we can build on that.”

Batsman Peter Moor, who made his Test debut against New Zealand last year, shares the same sentiments with his coach that the Zimbabwe batsmen should adjust to the conditions fast.

“I think with the pink ball everybody needs to control their aggression. Practicing under the lights has been a real eye opener for us and everybody is trying to adjust to it a lot better.”

The 26-year old Moor is excited by the strides he has made in his young career with a record of three 50s in five games.

“It tells me a lot about myself. I was really nervous when I made my debut. Relative success from my first five games, I think I have learnt a lot from that and I am really looking forward to the challenge of playing against South Africa. It’s always been a dream of mine, so I’m looking forward to that.

“Ours is a very exciting team, we are a young team with a little bit of experience. It’s very nice to have Taylor back in the setup, obviously our captain Cremer, guys like Hamilton Masakadza and a lot of youngsters pushing for places which is exciting and I think the future, if we have more games, will be bright,” said Moor.

But there is more at the stake for some senior players like Craig Ervine (49), Sikandar Raza (46) and Brendan Taylor (45) will be looking to make the most of the opportunity presented by the Boxing Day Test to improve their rankings while captain Cremer will get a chance to move up from 47th place among bowlers.

South Africa’s Dale Steyn, AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla will also play with an eye on the rankings. Former top-ranked bowler Steyn could get a chance to start his ascent back from the current 10th position

Steyn and batsman AB de Villiers (not ranked after an almost two-year sabbatical from Tests) are returning to Test cricket after long periods while pace bowlers Vernon Philander (11th) and Morne Morkel (13th) are coming back from injuries, leaving the team management with several choices and the possibility of resting some of these players for the one-off Test.

If Steyn gets to play, he will get a chance to climb back from 10th position in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings. He was ranked second after his last Test, which was against Australia in Perth in November 2016, but has slipped to 748 points after missing matches due to a shoulder injury.

Steyn, who has been ranked number one for 265 Tests, more than anyone in Test history, was last at the top in October 2016 when India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin overtook him.

Kagiso Rabada is the leading bowler in the match at second position while Hashim Amla (seventh), Dean Elgar (11th), Quinton de Kock (13th) and Faf du Plessis (14th) are the prominent batsmen for South Africa.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings, second-placed South Africa have the danger of losing three points with a defeat at the hands of Zimbabwe.

Second on the points table led by India (124 points), South Africa will remain on 111 points even if they win the match while a draw will see them lose one point.

Zimbabwe, who are presently on two points, will slip to one point with a loss, a draw will see them move up to four points while a win will lift them to eight points.