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The national cricket team will face West Indies in the third One Day International match with another possible victory expected from the Prosper Utseya captained side, in Kingstown, tomorrow.

Before leaving the country for West Indies national bowling coach, Heath Streak told The Zimbabwean “if we play to our full potential we are capable of winning.”

“We need to put them under pressure and we will be able to win. The guys need to stay positive and we plan to take advantage of their weakness having watched their previous matches against Australia. It will be a good preparation for the return to Test Cricket if we could win the matches,” he said.

Streak’s confidence in the team has since been justified by Zimbabwe’s victories in the Caribbean so far. Walter Chawaguta’s charges’ victory over the Windies in a Twenty20 match played a fortnight ago together with the two-run win in the first ODI last week, was befitting for a developed side eyeing for the return to the longer version of the game.

The victory was described by some as a “triumph of determination” while others commended it as a result of “planning and foresight with no less than six spinners used to strangle the home side on a pitch tailor-made for the slow men.”

West Indies levelled the series after winning the second ODI by four wickets, last Saturday.

Streak believes Zimbabwe has a promising future in bowling after witnessing so much improvement and ability since his appointment as the team’s bowling mentor, last August.

“There has been a lot of development so far, Chris Mpofu has improved so well. Tymcen Maruma has got a lot of ability as a junior and Shingi Masakadza is a future prospect. I hope we will manage to keep that form on the international platform,” he said.

The tourists are expected to win their third match tomorrow, to resume their lead of the ODI series.

jamthala wrote:time to axw matsikenyari and mopfu and bring coventry and maruma

West Indies cricketers Dwayne and Darren Bravo were yesterday forced to use their own money to purchase airline tickets to travel to St Vincent to represent the West Indies in the upcoming limited overs matches against Zimbabwe, starting tomorrow. The duo showed up at the Piarco International Airport at 5.30 am yesterday only to learn no travel arrangements were made for them to travel to St Vincent.

They left one hour later after dipping into their pockets to purchase the necessary tickets. However, on their arrival at the Arnos Vale International Airport, there was no one to meet them and their frustration increased when they arrived at the team’s hotel only to discover no reservations were made for them. Contacted, cricket operations manager at the WICB, Tony Howard said he was in no position to comment on the situation since he had no knowledge of the situation. “As far as I know all the players are where they are supposed to be. I have not heard anything about the situation and hence I cannot make a comment,” said the WICB representative.

A source close to the T&T Cricket Board (T&TCB) said this was just another example of the inefficiency of the WICB. “While we are coming down hard on the players for not performing, there are enormous off field problems which needs to be corrected. “The players need the support of the WICB and they need to be taken care of properly. “Everyone has to be onboard this effort to get our cricket back to where we want it and there should only be room for those who are willing to take their job seriously.”

Just three weeks ago, players from three visiting teams were forced to sleep on the floors of a corridor of a local hotel after their booking arrangements went haywire. The WICB blamed the T&TCB but the local board denied it was at fault. The T&TCB has since provided documents to support its claims and its president, Azim Bassarath, demanded an apology from the WICB.