[Match Thread] 2nd ODI (South Africa v Zimbabwe)

[The Saint]

Why is S.Masakadza batting at 11? Is'nt he half decent with the bat?

[zimfan1]

268 all out

Decent effort but could of been more

[maehara]

Why is S.Masakadza batting at 11? Is'nt he half decent with the bat?

He is, but so are the people ahead of him. Zim's tail is a long 'un...

[Dr_Situ(ZimFanatic)]

Wicket: Ervine (c Peterson b Langeveldt 27). Zimbabwe 155/5 after 31.5 overs.

Very disappointing. He got a great start and looked in good nick.

Very much one for the future though. He deserves a run in the side as opposed to Coventry.

Not suitable against spinners so better hone his skills further till world cup

[The Saint]

A cricketing writer on indiainfo in his tour diary described Greame Cremer as the "most naturally gifted spinner of his generation". And no he was not being sarcastic.

[CrimsonAvenger]

A cricketing writer on indiainfo in his tour diary described Greame Cremer as the "most naturally gifted spinner of his generation". And no he was not being sarcastic.

Guess you are referring to Cricinfo there. The writer is a member of this forum. Guess we have had our effect

[CrimsonAvenger]

And I should not have spoken about Hamilton's WC jinx in the other thread. Dropping him is plain ridiculous. Well played Taibu. And some lusty blows it seems from Dabengwa and Utseya in the end. But when would everyone step up from this state of mediocrity? Chigumbura is becoming a concern too.

[Dr_Situ(ZimFanatic)]

A cricketing writer on indiainfo in his tour diary described Greame Cremer as the "most naturally gifted spinner of his generation". And no he was not being sarcastic.

Guess you are referring to Cricinfo there. The writer is a member of this forum. Guess we have had our effect

We also read a comment on CricInfo from 'our' member in yesterday's mt- if Zim chase this one(351) then it would have been one of the finest matches ever played.

[zimfan1]

And I should not have spoken about Hamilton's WC jinx in the other thread. Dropping him is plain ridiculous. Well played Taibu. And some lusty blows it seems from Dabengwa and Utseya in the end. But when would everyone step up from this state of mediocrity? Chigumbura is becoming a concern too.

I think that may be a little harsh particularly as we have scored one of our highest totals against a full member country baring Bangladesh.

BUt i share the concern about Chigumbura, if he's not going to bowl is he worth his place in the side?

[brmtaylor.com admin]

Taylor looked in great touch besides those two shots he skied. Taibu played nicely for his 78. Sadly what was lacking was a big partnership, but to still get to 268 is a reasonable result. It probably won't be enough to push South Africa, but it does give the bowlers something to defend.

As much as I would have preferred to see Nicolson, Dabengwa in the team provides an extra spin bowling option and seeing our seam bowlers have had no luck lately maybe it's not such a bad thing.

Williams form is a problem. He got a reprieve by retaining his place ahead of Masakadza, which is a bit mystifying. Masakadza hasn't been on fire, but he should have had enough points in the bank to not get dropped yet. Looking forward, it looks like Taylor, Masakadza, Chibhabha and Taibu will form the top four.

One final point, Chigumbura (or whoever made the decision) was not aggressive enough in using the powerplay. It should have been taken while Taibu and Chigumbura were still batting. This is not a problem unique to Zimbabwe though, no teams have used the powerplay well in international cricket. It has zero chance of happening, but next time Zimbabwe bat I'd like to see the batting powerplay taken between overs 10 and 15. The bowling team almost always uses it at this point, so why not put a bit of confusion in the mind of the fielding captain?

Imagine if Taylor and Masakadza, or whoever is at the crease at the time, scored 8 or so an over between overs 10 and 15. Then the onus is on the fielding side to determine the opportune time to use the bowling powerplay. Do they take it between overs 15 and 20 despite the batsmen being in great touch? Do they hold off until the middle overs when the batsmen are well settled, wait until the final few overs? It would, if nothing else, be something a bit different and would give the opposition something extra to think about. And any psychological advantage has to help. In fact, the more I think about it - I'd like this tactic to be used against an unsuspecting Bangladesh side where it could actually turn the match.