[Match Thread] 2nd Match: Zimbabwe XI v Australia A

[clikcspeed]

Need another out and out paceman to complment Mpofu, Vitori/jarvis fit that bill. Meth and chigs are military medium only though Meth is a good exponent of swing

Last year I would have agreed with you "out and out paceman" but having seen guys like Sammy, Zaheer, Ishant, Munaf, Tsotsobe - I would say "not really" - these guys barely touch 135kph on a regular basis but have done extremely well, particularly the Indians who don't have an out and out quick. Whilst it would be great to have fast bowlers, preference goes to consistent bowlers. Vitori/Chatara/Jarvis are upcoming but shouldn't be rushed to the international scene because they will be exposed, for now they should play more FCs.

[richietaylor08]

Ray Price gone... Did well to last 7 overs this morning... Now the last pair at the crease! I think 350 would be good for us!

The tail is rather long, what about Shingi Masakadza, no one's mentioned him?? For the number 8 spot??

[richietaylor08]

ELTON GONE FOR A DUCK..... Now lets see what the bowlers can do! 300 looks like it'll be good now!

[takleg]

all out for 300 very disappointing.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

All out for 300. It is disappointing that we lost 6/55, but it's still a pretty respectable first innings score and the experience of the Taylor and Masakadza partnership proved to be pretty important. It's good for those guys (and Sibanda too) to have had a lot of time in the middle batting against a good quality bowling attack. Between these matches and the A team triangular they have had the best preparation possible for the Test against Bangladesh; let's hope it all clicks in about a fortnights time.

Australia A would have to score about 4.5 an over to surpass 300 by stumps tonight, so to build up a decent lead they would have to bat well into day three I would imagine. The draw is there for the taking, and if Zimbabwe can bowl Australia A out for less than 250 - probably wishful thinking - then who knows?

[takleg]

I've never seen Vitori in action. Just popped into HSC. Looks like he has good pace, but he's bowling too straight. he looks good though.

[Flower power]

Our batting can be quite formidable .We can go beyond 300 in an innings .

If Vusi Sibanda & Tino Mawoyo take off the shine of the ball and build a 50-100 partnership
Masakadza then can carry on with one of the openers and put in 50
then step in Taylor & Masakadza who perhaps can put as much as btwn 100-200 in between them
If things go wrong Taibu can step up .
Then Elton can fire up things if the rate had slowed down
Put in Craig Ervine can anchor at 6 or continue building

[hhm]

I've never seen Vitori in action. Just popped into HSC. Looks like he has good pace, but he's bowling too straight. he looks good though.

Great to have someone with an inside look. Vitori certainly looks like one for the immediate future. Keep us informed about his action, and generally the areas he hits. Jarvis got a hiding upfront, but I'm sure he'll pull himself together. Lack of match fitness will contribute to him & Mpofu, not to mention Razor.

Such a start was always going to be ineviatble with Warner&Finch in tandem. In fact, most people seem to rate Finch more highly than Warner & even Hughes. But I see Taylor went to Price, just after replacing Jarvis for Mpofu. I would have kept Mpofu and introduced Elton in place of Vitori instead. We need to see the maturity in these players and how they handle this kind of pressure. We've seen Mpofu handle himslef well at times under this kind of pressure, but Elton is always 'protected' from it, while something similar seems to be happening to Jarvis. This is a 'trial' game so unless we are going for a win, they should persist with these guys under these situations. Better now than in a fortnight's time.

Well Jarvis has made a good case for Meth in his opening spell

Mpofu & Elton(by virtue of being an allrounder) are in. What we need clarity on is if they'll be using two spinners or one. If they are using two spinners then Meth, Vitori & Jarvis are fighting for one spot, however, if they are using one spinner then those three are fighting for two spots. If it's for one spot then I am still leaning towards Meth, but we can't argue that Vitori isn't making a strong case for himself and the selectors might make a call in his favor. It's too early to draw a conclusion on Jarvis, but with his pace, if he significantly turns things around then I'll go for him for that second spot.

[shumbat]

300 not too bad in the sence that the batsmen batted well, now its the turn of the bowlers to do their bit. I guess as we are rebuilding it would be too much to ask the bowlers to bat well, when they bowl well that's all we require of them for now, any runs they score is a bonus.

[Tinashce Ruswa]

Disappointed to see that Zimbabwe managed to get 300 All out from 250/5 overnight..Middle order has to pull through because in test cricket thats the difference between a possible loss inside five days or a battling draw.We can take all good points from the top order but we should realise that there are nearly 500 overs in test cricket and batting 100 odd for an innings will not do us any favours especially with our scoring rate we need to occupy more time at the crease