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Now that the South Africa series is out of the way (thankfully, some may say), time for a look at the various statistics to see how Zimbabwe have progressed since the last time the two teams met in SA, which was the 3-match series in early 2005. Zim started that series with a much-weakened squad, but even the return of Heath Streak, Andy Blignaut and other during the series didn't help avoid one of the most one-sided series on record - so really, the only way Zimbabwe could really go for this series was up, right? Well, not quite.

To start with, though, two little stats I like to use to paint things in a slightly better light (and to show that you an prove anything with statistics): SA played Australia - the world's #1 ODI side, lest you forget - earlier in the year. In one match, they put 438 runs on the board - against Zim they could "only" manage 418. Over the course of the Australia series, SA scored an average of 262, while against Zim they "only" managed 258. So we must be better than the Australians, right? I joke, of course.

Let's quickly move on to the serious stuff, which you'll find below the cut.

Batting
Batting first, which is the area Zimbabwe have been struggling most with since the current side came together. For this series, they finally got their act together, producing figures consistent with their performances against Bangladesh (a much weaker side) and eclipsing the 2005 side's figures against SA:

2006 Series
Name           Mat    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave     SR 100 50   Ct St
E Chigumbura     3    2   1    56   30   56.00  60.21   -  -    1  -
T Duffin         2    2   0    91   88   45.50  58.70   -  1    -  -
CJ Chibhabha     3    3   0   121   46   40.33  50.41   -  -    1  -
P Utseya         3    2   1    38   24*  38.00  67.85   -  -    1  -
H Masakadza      3    3   0    92   55   30.66  85.98   -  1    -  -

2005 Series
Name           Mat    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave     SR 100 50   Ct St
HH Streak        1    1   0    68   68   68.00  64.76   -  1    -  -
GM Ewing         2    2   0    58   46   29.00  78.37   -  -    -  -
SC Williams      3    3   1    46   33*  23.00  62.16   -  -    1  -
BRM Taylor       3    3   0    67   41   22.33  58.77   -  -    -  -
P Utseya         3    3   2    21   11   21.00  47.72   -  -    1  -

That's reflected in the LG ODI Batting rankings, which saw five Zimbabweans post personal best rating scores during the series. Two batsmen will be disappointed: Brendan Taylor, who really didn't perform well with the bat after his heroics against Bangladesh, and performed worse in this tour than he did in the 2005 tour, while Stuart Matsikenyeri again didn't quite live up to expectations. Overall, though, there's more to celebrate than commiserate with the batting, especially as Zim were facing Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini - two of the world's top-rated bowlers - on this tour.

LG ODI Batting (as at 27/09/06)
Before      After
39   576    43   557     Brendan Taylor
70   451    67   473*    Elton Chigumbura
89   374    74   432*    Chamu Chibhabha
77   419    78   418     Stuart Matsikenyeri
83   387*   81   400     Vusi Sibanda (PB of 424 during series)
96   337*   89   380*    Hamilton Masakadza
98   335*   93   368*    Terrence Duffin

Bowling
The bowling and fielding, sadly, was another story. Parsimonious Prosper didn't live up to his PR this time - which will have some commentators saying "I told you so", no doubt, as much of Utseya's reputation for thrift has been built against weaker opposition. Facing a strong team this time around, he was flayed to all parts of the field, with most of Zim's other bowlers facing similar disdain. To be fair, if figures from the 3rd ODI were stripped out, there would be nothing here too embarrasing - but bearing in mind that SA fielded a weakened team in the final match, and that any number of chances were lost by poor fielding, and you have to wonder what happened to Zim's mental state during that match.

There's one area were bowling has improved since 2005, thankfully, and that's in the ability to take wickets. In the first two matches, Zim had SA on the edge of the precipice after taking key early wickets, something the 2005 side had never been able to do. They just weren't able to finish what they started, and the wickets they did take were at a high run cost. That's a start that can be built on, though, and wicket-taking is important to any side hoping to do well in the longer form of the game.

2006 Series
Name           Mat    O      M     R   W    Ave  Best  4w 5w    SR  Econ
S Matsikenyeri   3    2      0    10   1  10.00  1-10   -  -  12.0  5.00
EC Rainsford     3   25      2   127   3  42.33  2-29   -  -  50.0  5.08
AJ Ireland       2   17      0    92   3  30.66  2-40   -  -  34.0  5.41
HP Rinke         1    6      0    35   2  17.50  2-35   -  -  18.0  5.83
P Utseya         3   24      0   147   2  73.50  2-77   -  -  72.0  6.12

2005 Series
Name           Mat    O      M     R   W    Ave  Best  4w 5w    SR  Econ
HH Streak        1    8      1    28   1  28.00  1-28   -  -  48.0  3.50
T Mupariwa       1    7      0    25   2  12.50  2-25   -  -  21.0  3.57
GM Ewing         2   15      0    68   0    -     -     -  -    -   4.53
SC Williams      3   12.3    0    59   0    -     -     -  -    -   4.72
P Utseya         3   24      0   127   3  42.33  3-40   -  -  48.0  5.29

Poor bowling is reflected in the rankings, with only Ed Rainsford & Anthony Ireland improving their positions, while Ryan Higgins (who took no part in this series) drops out of the top 100.

LG ODI Bowling (as at 27/09/06)
Before      After
15   651*   17   631     Prosper Utseya
70   412*   54   468*    Ed Rainsford
48   481    57   466     Tawanda Mupariwa
87   350    82   376     Anthony Ireland (PB of 378 during series)
83   375    83   369     Blessing Mawhire
100  310     —     —     Ryan Higgins

If it hadn't been for the 3rd ODI, this series certainly wouldn't have looked as bad - but that one match did show that Zimbabwe, mentally, have a way to go before they're going to be fully ocmpetitive in the game. As has been the case for a while now, the ability is showing - and more consistently as time goes on - but the instinct to see a game through still isn't quite there. Whether they'll be able to find that instinct before the Champions Trophy kicks off will be key to how well Zimbabwe perform there - the possibility of progressing to the main tournament is there if the team are willing to grasp it, but I have my doubts that they will.