Cephas the great

[jimbo]

The hong kong captain admitted that the big difference between the two sides is the start zimbabwe got. Can you imagine if cephas hadnt gone blitzkrieg at the start. We might have ended up on 200-9.

I would like him to stick around for longer than four over bursts as he has done against nepal/hong kong but he is proving his worth

[Kriterion_BD]

He's not the type of batsman who is going to stick around for more than 10 overs. His domestic averages are paltry and that pretty much sums it up. The sheer rate at which he hits boundaries illustrates that he will take a swipe at pretty much every ball. Tactically thats a very wise decision because if Cephas wasn't there who knows what the result of the HK and NEP games would have been like. The NRR would definitely be less than Scotland's at this stage. The end of the innings vs HK was mind-bogglingly poor. Only 50 runs scored in the final 15 overs with 6-7 wickets in hand. Ervine really took the cake with his innings.

He and Mire have done their job. LH-RH combination has also been useful. But Afghanistan also showed that a competent bowling lineup can turn a 75-0 powerplay score into 25-3.

He's like a Keiron Pollard or Brendon McCullum...basically his job is to up the RR by striking at 150+.

[jimbo]

I like the fact that he has got a bit of mongrel about him. Bit of a swagger rather than meek or callow. He has had a bit of a breakthrough season this year so selection has been justified. Im keen to see how he will go against the better sides

[TapsC]

We would easily be on 120 if he is still there after 10 overs. He is that kind of guy. I think it can be controlled a bit. Lance should work with him. That kind of hitting ability is hard to find.

[TapsC]

He is also successful because people don't know about him yet. That surprise factor is helping him a lot.. once that goes it's going to be tricky

[Kriterion_BD]

He is also successful because people don't know about him yet. That surprise factor is helping him a lot.. once that goes it's going to be tricky

I don't think its that. All bowlers will bowl a bad ball. Difference between a Mitchell Starc and a Taskin Ahmed is Starc will bowl one bad ball every 3 overs, and Taskin will bowl 1-2 every single over. The second factor is batsmen response. A Gayle or McCullum or Sehwag will see a bad ball and put it away. Their skill level is such that they will play relatively orthodox cricketing shots (cuts, pulls, lofted drives) albeit their technique isn't great so they edge a fair share as opposed to a more technically gifted player like Kane Williamson. A Tamim Iqbal will rarely go aerial, even for a bad ball. That also means that often he is unable to put every bad ball away for a boundary.

Cephas (and Mire to a great extent) hit a disproportionate number of 6s relative to 4s. Cephas has hit 7 sixes to 9 fours. Mire is 4 to 7. And Raza is 10 to 13. By comparison Taylor and Hamilton are at 4/18, and 1/10 respectively indicating they are taking far fewer aerial shots. The openers have some leeway due to the PP restrictions. But based on the ICC commentary it appears that Cephas is basically trying to hit 3 or 4 sixes every over and providing a chance very frequently. In other words its not clean hitting.

On the bowling front, you have amateur bowlers from HK and NEP who are prone to bowling more hit me balls combined with a pair of openers who try and hit them all out of the park.

Purely from a strategic standpoint, its a masterstroke because if you were opening with Chari and/or Hamilton, Zimbabwe may not have have brushed the likes of HK and Nepal aside so easily. Kudos to Taibu-Streak.

[Andybligzz]

If he can pull off a blinder in the super 6s against a bigger nation his slection will be of great warrant , if he could crack a 60-85 off around 45 balls it will shock the opposition and place us in a great position to win the match . Looking forward to williams making a return as well!

[Googly]

He’s already justified his inclusion.
The remaining sides will justifiably recognize that if they stop him getting a quick 40 it will help a lot.
Going at 200 strike rate up front against Ireland and particularly WI is going to be a tall order, but let’s hope he’s seeing it like a football.

[TapsC]

To think that they had Burl ahead of him. I don't credit streak and Taibu for this. They clearly didn't want him in the team. It was outside pressure that forced them to pick him.

Select guys in terms of form and you will be surprised at the results. This business of picking the same failures over and over again must stop. I hope they pick Mutizwa in the longer format as well. That is an even bigger injustice. How Waller has played way more test cricket than Mutizwa must hurt

[Googly]

There must have been some real politicking going on if Cephas was already in the UK. Burl really is a talented bat, I’m not sure why he hasn’t done well (yet), they may have made the right choice for this tournament but ultimately they have to persevere with Ryan because he’s the best of our prospects. He’s good, just needs that one innings to kick start him.