[Series Thread] Tracking Zimbos in Shpageeza League

[pariah]

Of Vusi's 207 runs, only 98 have come from boundaries. That means he's rotated the strike with the other 109 runs. For a player who many said can't play spin(despite proving it many times from position 4 against top A sides from top 8 Full Member nations), this has been a ruthless rebuttal. 20 fours, and 109 singles!

The reason why they have been beating their opposition is because those openers have been falling very cheaply even at 200SR.

Whereas with Vusi's team MAK, he has anchored superbly. He's faced on average 33 balls, meaning on average he's been there until at least the 10th over. Platform for low order hitters to launch with plenty of wickets in hand(Burl still learning and improving in the format so battling, but apart from him all other MAK batsmen have got very high SRs because of that very platform).

So credit where it's due. Vusi has been the key to them winning 5 out of the 6 matches they've played(Nabi, Zadra and Zahir Khan have been a strong bowling unit for them too).

Nabi is an IPL player Striking at 154 in this tournament, but he's scored just 52 runs from 5 innings. His 10 wickets in only 4 more than Raza, even though the gulf in bowling class in very obvious.

It will be interesting to see what happens if Vusi's injury is serious, and can't play in the next Eliminator/Final.

[Mr Twig]

Great death bowling from Chatara. We need him back in Zim colours quickly

[CrimsonAvenger]

Great death bowling from Chatara. We need him back in Zim colours quickly

The only guy who has convinced me on the "we need more games to improve" is Chatara. Every time he gets an opportunity to showcase his skills, he gets better. Massive signs for Zim if Chatara keeps getting better and gets back to his top form.

[Mr Twig]

Final is played today. Starts in 4 hours.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/1804 ... et-league/

1TV Kabul channel on YouTube has been live streaming the finals so hopefully this one will be too.

Sibanda, Burl, Chatara and Raza should be playing.

[jaybro]

The Afghanistan Cricket Board are broadcasting the matches live off their website also.

[pariah]

Slow start from Vusi. I though he was injured and wouldn't play this match.

A little bit of common sense from MAK, but not enough. Raza promoted up the order. Was never a bowler to begin with, so they should never have viewed him as an allrounder, especially when they're familiar with his bowling in the Afghan national team. He should have batted even higher.

They know Burl is slow, just like Vusi, and instead of batting him in the top 3, their only solution is to still pick him then promote other players when the chase is on?

Shouldn't have forced Vusi's fitness andjust used Burl to open. To have Nabi bat as low as 7 after Vusi and Burl makes absolutely no sense. As captain he should know that and be bolder. In the IPL plenty tactical sacrifices were made for him(eg Kane Williamson?).

MAK lost because of Nabi!

[TapsC]

Chatara looked really good in that final over.. looks like he might be getting back to somewhere near his best. Vusi and Burl had absolutely terrible strike rates.. don't think they are t20 players to be honest. You will always find openers high up on t20 scoring charts.. Even if you are an anchor player. You still need a strike rate of about 120 at the very least. Hami is more of our anchor player actually especially now that he will have Mire to do the dirty work.

[pariah]

Chatara looked really good in that final over.. looks like he might be getting back to somewhere near his best. Vusi and Burl had absolutely terrible strike rates.. don't think they are t20 players to be honest. You will always find openers high up on t20 scoring charts.. Even if you are an anchor player. You still need a strike rate of about 120 at the very least. Hami is more of our anchor player actually especially now that he will have Mire to do the dirty work.

Hami is more destructive than that. Mire has never played a T20 before.

You only need to look at Raza's T20I profile after 26 games - http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/ ... 99572.html, to appreciate that ZIM simply can't afford to pick and choose. Vusi, Chamu and Raza ar ein the same SR bracket. The latter 2 do bowl, but to what end? Just leak runs.

Already the team has Eton and Malcolm. Along with Hami, plus some occasional fast runs from BT that should be enough. Hopefully Mire comes to the party too, but from lower. He stands little chance against a Malinga/Narine up front.

I think ZIM fans are guilty of underestimating specialist T20 bowlers upfront and at the death, plus overestimating Zimbabwe's player stocks in this format. 20 overs is not a short time. Just look at the Africa T20 to see how some decent SA players are struggled. It's hard to find a balance. Very hard. If you have a guy averaging 40 and striking at 100, that should be a good platform.

Zimbabwe have been losing routinely to minnows in ODIs and T20s, precisely becaus ethey thought they had enough to ignore those players. Look now. They are peers with NEd & SCO.

[TapsC]

Mire did fairly well against Malinga. Slapped him for one the biggest sixes I have seen in a while. He has a weakness against spin that's why I think he is better down the order. I will admit that Raza isn't a stat backed pick for me but I do believe he has improved a lot recently. Tari would make my team also based on the potential and fearlessness that I have seen.

So what would your ideal T20 be then HHM?

for me personally Ervine Williams Burl Vusi and Jarvis and PJ wouldn't make my t20 team right now.

I would have

Hami
Mire
Tari
Taylor(wk)
Raza
Elton
Waller
Madziva
Chisoro
Cremer
Chatara

[sloandog]

I would have Moor. He's one of the few young lads in Zimbabwe at the moment who can clear the ropes and hit big. Nathan Waller is another one.