Match Thread: Kenya v Zimbabwe (& Kenya v Ireland)

[Dr_Situ(ZimFanatic)]

4,4,6,4 18 of the over by Stuey. Boom boom joins him with 170 needed.
We have only beaten once IMO by kenya that was in world cup. It should not happen again.

[CrimsonAvenger]

We have only beaten once IMO by kenya that was in world cup. It should not happen again.

No, more than once. There was a 5 match series in 2006 I think, and Zim won it 3-2. Actually scraped through.

EDIT: And Boom Boom is out, Matsi blazing.

[Train Driver]

Bang goes any momentum gained from the win over Ireland.

I have great respect for Prosper Utseya, he took on the reponsibility when there was nobody else around to do it, but he really needs to be replaced. His bowling seems to have gone downhill since that time and as for his 'tactical ability', mmm. Is he really making the decisions on the pitch though ?, if he is then he is wrong far too many times, if he's not then who is, the other players or Chawaguta ?

If Chigumbura cannot be trusted, by Utseya ?, to bowl 10 overs in a ODI then Mupariwa has got to be selected in place of Maruma or Dabengwa. Just how many spinners do you need in a 50 over game ?

Things are getting worse by the over, Sir Garfield Dabengwa has now gone, Chakabva is still waiting to bat with 5 wickets down, which is ridiculous, and Zim are heading towards a total drubbing.

Chigumbura has now gone as well, 129-6 at the end of the 28th over, oh well, only 7.13 an over required with Matsikenyeri, Chakabva, Utseya, Price and Mpofu left

[maehara]

We have only beaten once IMO by kenya that was in world cup. It should not happen again.

Beaten by them twice in Zimbabwe in 2006 for a 2-2 series tie:

26 February 2006, Bulawayo (Queen's Sports Club)
Zimbabwe -vs- Kenya, 2nd ODI
Kenya 284/7 (50 ovrs)
Zimbabwe 205 (46.2 ovrs)
Kenya win by 79 runs

1 March 2006, Harare (Harare Sports Club)
Zimbabwe -vs- Kenya, 3rd ODI
Kenya 134 (42.5 ovrs)
Zimbabwe 69 (22.5 ovrs)
Kenya win by 65 runs

[brmtaylor.com admin]

I don't really know what to say about this.

I guess we should look at the positives:

- Maruma scored 32, well done. It just goes to show the state of Zimbabwean cricket that this little cameo by a number 9 batsman is good enough that he will not only retain his place in the side for the next match, but that it will be for his batting alone.
- Mpofu took 6 wickets, well done. I think he really needed a performance like this to boost his confidence.
- Matsikenyeri is on 48... this is bloody annoying. He hasn't done anything in God knows how long, now he's going to post a half century against a Kenyan team that really are hopeless, which will of course justify his selection for the next 12 months.
- Ray Price is a legend.

As for the negatives:

- Utseya's a fool. Good bowler, but it must be a case of the lights are on and nobody's home. Saving Mpofu for the final 8 overs? Really? He and Price were the only blokes that looked like stemming the flow of runs, and he waits until the final 8 overs to bowl him? While Tikolo and Obanda were smashing us to all parts, Utseya didn't bring back his main bowler. Fatal mistake. Ordinarily this would have been Chigumbura, but today it happened to be Mpofu. Perhaps Utseya needs to keep an eye on the match in progress... Must be replaced.
- Walter Chawaguta. Utseya can't take all the blame for the tactics, Chawaguta would have to be behind some of the decisions. The way Zimbabwe played was never this cringeworthy under Robin Brown.

[jimbo]

And our captain fantastic is out for a duck

[brmtaylor.com admin]

Chakabva is on 30 from 33.

Thank God for that. At least no matter what happens now (barring a not out, which would be equally acceptable), at the conclusion of this game we will have a batsman with an ODI average in or above the 30's.

[Train Driver]

181-9, so the stage is set for Mpofu to get his maiden ODI 50.

Well, his maiden ODI 5 then

I suppose you have to try and laugh after a humiliating thrashing like this ......

[Dr_Situ(ZimFanatic)]

Yeah, now i remember the 2-2 series. BRMT rightly said we need some1 in 30 plus average. If he manages a 50 somehow he'll join the exclusive list of 50 on debut which includes Fletcher, Dekker(cons. 50's vs Crowe's NZ) and Crocker.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

Looks like Chakabva threw away his wicket on 41.

Well, at least he made 41... now we have a batsman who has an average in the 40's! I really hope he can keep an average hovering around that area. The last thing we need is another useless lower middle order batsman (although I think that no matter what happens, Chakabva will always be considered much better than Dabengwa and Matsikenyeri... that's my feeling) who averages 20.

We need someone who can just come into the team and be good straight away. Shakib Al Hasan seems to be doing that for Bangladesh (averages 30 odd in ODI's), Graeme Cremer looks like he may fit into that category as well. I really hope Chakabva is also one of these people.