[ ICC World Cup Odi Super League ] Match 1 : Zimbabwe V/s Pakistan, Rawalpindi

[thejusjj]

Chari is frustrating because he has such promise and yet doesn't give himself the chance to set himself up to play an innings of note let along survive the bloody powerplay. 1/10

Chamu's technique looked absolutely dreadful today, not that it has changed much over the years, just look at the shot played that was narrowly umpires call. Played 1 good shot but looked ready to get out virtually every ball. Also please never make me have to watch him bowl again, i swear i can spray it about less than him. 1/10

Ervine looked absolutely brilliant, just got into his own head when he was getting bogged down a bit and trusted his ability to clear the infield which he didn't execute very well but had put Zim into a good position following the woeful start. 6/10

Taylor's innings was one of the best i've seen him play, looked composed and was absolutely brilliant with his communication to Madhevere who was hanging onto his every word like he was the mosiah. While the commentators where criticising his lack of rotating the strike in the middle order he certainly made up for it in his overall strike rate and playing some of the most insane shots ive ever seen, especially those two upper cuts off of the faster gits. Only issue was his fitness causing him to run out of steam and not be able to stick it out and finish the game for Zimbabwe, also got lucky with a few silly shots which he was about a month early on. 8/10

Williams had a very quite game unlike his recent form from the last couple years and im a little surprised they didn't bowl him at all considering how economical the spin bowling was. Good in the field though. 3/10

Madhevere was very good today. Firstly his bowling was economical without looking particularly troubling, personally think he bowled probably a few too many overs that could have been bowled by one of the other multiple spin bowlers Zim have on offer. Batting is where he starred. Looked particularly good against the short ball, which a man of his stature must be to crack it as a pro cricketer, although perhaps a little instinctive to take it on constantly which could get him into trouble against the pakistani seamers in the rest of the series. This kid is proper and impresses me everytime i watch him. Got out trying to be too clever and confusing himself but was great to see him speaking to Brendan Taylor throughout his whole innings which can only improve his game further. 7/10

Raza was at his temporamental best today. Bowled decently picking up the one wicket but as with Madhevere bowled probably a couple too many. Not much to say on the batting other than this was classic Raza of one day you get him the next you don't. 5/10

Chisoro was the most dangerous looking of the bowling attack and looked to be causing good players of spin problems at various points. Confused why Chamu decided that Raza was a better options bowling more overs than the guy taking the most wickets but alas... good to see the scariest man on the cricket field in the red and yellow again. Not much to say about his batting was an almost impossible situation at that point so cant blame him. 7/10

Mumba was poor, like really poor. He was spraying the stuff all over the place at the beginning of the innings and was lucky he wasn't going at 10 an over tbh. Came back a little better in his second spell but by the end the Pakistani tail had completely worked him out. Hopefully we don't see him again this series. Cant bat to save his life. 2/10

Ngarava was ok without being spectacular. His first spell was really quite impressive going at just 2 an over and very unfortunate not to pick up any wickets. Really enjoy his left arm but needs to pitch the ball up a lot more fuller if he wants to take the new ball duties over from Jarvis and Chatara when they're fit. Second spell got picked off a bit but overall bowled economically without looking particularly dangerous. Also cant bat to save his life but if he works with Jarvis and Chatara alongside the likes of Muzarabani he could develop into a seriously good bowler if he gets that control better. 5/10

Muzarabani has been a bit of a mancrush of mine for a while and i was convinced he would never come back to play for Zimbabwe again, but fair play to him. Bowled well today without being at his absolute best picking up 2 important wickets, especially that of Babar Azam stopping Pak almost certainly from going on to reach 320 plus. The time in the county circuit will only have improved this man and i hope he can continue to improve on those stats he has as his grows in bowling maturity. 7/10

There's my take on the players performances today. By the time any of you have read it we will all be watching the 2nd ODI...

Good analysis! Rating given are mostly apt!.

[Kriterion_BD]

Watched only the first 20-25 overs and wasn't paying attention too closely.

But overall, bowlers did well to restrict PAK to 280 on a really flat surface. Conceding 90 off the final 10 overs is actually not that bad. Ideally you want to keep to 75 or fewer, but these days 90 is probably a par performance in the final 10.

Not enough support for Taylor and Wez with the bat given that Williams and Raza didn't contribute anything. 280 should be chased down in the modern era at least 50% of the time...given the conditions at Pindi yesterday perhaps 65% of the time. But it still takes some batting to chase down.

The biggest gains are Wez's batting and Blessing's bowling.

In the end the small margin of defeat keeps the NRR manageable going forward.