[Match Thread] Zimbabwe v New Zealand: Test Match

[andybligz93]

Jarvis is overrated. He bowls straight overpitched deliveries. Any batsman worth his salt should punish him.
Zimbabwe will need a lot of luck to come out undefeated from this one.....

i wouldnt say hes over rated , know one ever said hes a gun and a match winner yet , we all say he has the talent and skill just needs the consistency.

[Jemisi]

Baju they are already 140 ahead. If you think NZ only want another 160 - then a defensive field wont stop them getting there. There are still 180 overs left in the game. If NZ only set a target of 300 that would be very generous. We could get there with a run rate of 2! NZ may settle for a target and timeframe similar to the one Taylor gave BD. We might as well go for the wickets and see if the pressure gets to them. NZ are not immune to a collapse of their own.

[BaijuSpeaks]

Baju they are already 140 ahead. If you think NZ only want another 160 - then a defensive field wont stop them getting there. There are still 180 overs left in the game. If NZ only set a target of 300 that would be very generous. We could get there with a run rate of 2! NZ may settle for a target and timeframe similar to the one Taylor gave BD. We might as well go for the wickets and see if the pressure gets to them. NZ are not immune to a collapse of their own.

Jemisi, Do you really think Zimbabwe can chase 300 on this wearing Bullawayo wicket or even 250. Run rate of 2 may be easy on a 2nd day wicket but not really on the 5th day. For me, the more time NZ bats, its better for ZImbabwe to capture a draw. With, 9 batsmen in NZ side, we can't really hope for a dramatic collapse in the first session today. Someone can score an odd 50 and steer them to safety.

[Flower power]

I am in the opinion that New Zealand are not immune to collapse , they have already lost their openers . The score is 140/2 ........ by the end of the morning session 200/5 wont be a bad situation , then by after lunch 250 all out will be reachable .
And Zim is going to march on.......Go boys we chased them in the one dayers they are not invisible .

[BaijuSpeaks]

I am in the opinion that New Zealand are not immune to collapse , they have already lost their openers . The score is 140/2 ........ by the end of the morning session 200/5 wont be a bad situation , then by after lunch 250 all out will be reachable .
And Zim is going to march on.......Go boys we chased them in the one dayers they are not invisible .

You are toooooooooo optimistic I appreciate your attitude.
Yesterday, you commented your wish at lunch as Taylor and Taibu playing out the rest of the day. Though it was nice to hear, it did not happen obviously.
Saying that, my prediction at lunch time of Zimbabwe finishing the day at 390/6 also didnt happen .
If NZ collapses on this wicket, we can expect the same from Zimbabwe too . We all know how much we scored against Pakistan in the 2nd innings on this same wicket. Vettori is as destructive as Ajmal, may be more .

Whatever be the result of this game, I really appreciate each and every Zimbabwean player who took the field for the 3 tests since we returned to test match cricket. Unlike ODIs and T20s, they all performed at their best for tests and were very competitive.

[Flower power]

@ Baju i have been like this for the past 19 years . 1992-present , it cant get out of my system . I just wish the players had that same mentality . If they were positive like me then we would have won say 30% of the close games that we have lost .Even during the 90s when all guns were blazing we were guilty of letting wins slip through us .Someone posted somewhere that Zim are in the habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory......

[Conant]

While analyzing Malcolm Waller the batsmen who failed to he farm the strike against the tail, we’ve missed the essence of Waller the man. I was the first I think (actually I’m smugly certain ) to observe the unselfish nature of Waller, and while evidently he miscalculated by giving the strike to Christopher Mpofu and Njabulo I believe it is genuinely becasue he believed they could handle it. He was guilty of naiveté more than anything. No doubt he will be given proper instructions by management next time and more importantly he would have realized it himself by now.

I’m sure meth and Cremer could have got 50 between them, how we miss them in our tail

These two don’t average 40 between them in domestic cricket and last night you wanted them to make 50? Am sorry to say this but together with Chigumbura, Cremer’s batting is quite easily the most overrated on this forum. He may spank the odd ball now and then but better be banking on Shingi Masakadza or Brian Vitori, who as time goes will improve very rapidly.

313, hhhmmm. Well, a disappointment on this wicket, I think. considering where things were at, we should probably have managed another 50.

Still, we managed to bat a long time and had some decent performances. The very long tail is hurting us. I know we are supposed to pick the best 4 bowlers regardless of their batting, but these days the last 4 are expected to contibute, and our guys got 9 between them. The top 7 have done ok, with a little tail end support we would be at 350.
I think Meth needs to be picked for NZ, not Ncube.

Al l this talk about a long tail is quite misguided. You pick the best three or four bowlers you have, and work on their batting. You must remember there are international standards, and there are Zim standards. Tino Mawoyo has cracked it in Zim but he wouldn’t cracking an any other team perhhps even Ireland. Vusi may still struggle to get a berth elsewhere but he’s currently our best. This is not to say we must accept mediocre, but a bowler’s chief jobs is still to strike, the rest is an added bonus.

This is much like complaining about Raymond’s Price’s fielding (must say its unbelievable that they’re fielding him at slip), although we would have all loved it if he were quicker in the field. In the event that two bowlers are neck to neck, only then can we consider other merits such as their batting or fielding. Stuart Broad might be better than the average number eight but the reason why our tailenders are not to standard is not because of lack of ability but because there are many late starters there (to cricket) who lack fundamentals. The batting will come with practice and experience, which our batsmen hadn’t been getting let alone our bowlers.

I am in the opinion that New Zealand are not immune to collapse , they have already lost their openers . The score is 140/2 ........ by the end of the morning session 200/5 wont be a bad situation , then by after lunch 250 all out will be reachable .
And Zim is going to march on.......Go boys we chased them in the one dayers they are not invisible .

Zim this morning are 20/1 to win this Test match as opposed to New Zealand 6/10. There’s value there.
Forget about the draw, it simply won’t happen.

There’s no real mystery in Daniel Vettori's bowling, just a little old fashioned persistence, dead accuracy and some variation . A little doggedness and concentration on our part will be a big help. This New Zealand attack is much easier to play than the Pakistan one we faced last month. I expect we could bowl them out and I certainly don’t expect us to fold for 140 in the second innings!!

[PSR]

[Flower power]

I would have loved Patel to stick around for a while ........attack the stronger man ,Williamson.
In that way New Zealand would effectively have one strong batsmen in all the time. It would buy us more time and effectively delay their blitz .That constant attack on the stronger man would build pressure and push them into making unforced errors .

[foreignfield]

Al l this talk about a long tail is quite misguided. You pick the best three or four bowlers you have, and work on their batting. ... This is not to say we must accept mediocre, but a bowler’s chief jobs is still to strike, the rest is an added bonus.

In the event that two bowlers are neck to neck, only then can we consider other merits such as their batting or fielding.

I think the argument is exactly in the last sentence: there is little evidence that Ncube is a significantly better bowler than Meth, but pretty much evidence that Meth is a better batsman.

There’s no real mystery in Daniel Vettori's bowling, just a little old fashioned persistence, dead accuracy and some variation . A little doggedness and concentration on our part will be a big help. This New Zealand attack is much easier to play than the Pakistan one we faced last month. I expect we could bowl them out and I certainly don’t expect us to fold for 140 in the second innings!!

Agreed! I'm not one to underestimate Danny, but if you decide to block him out it's not impossible to so. I think that he does not have the best stats bowling in the fourth innings. but it will all be in the mind!