After following on a falling apart - again - it seems Zimbabwe would have needed another 2 innings just to get to a score where South Africa ‘A’ would have needed to bat again. Paul Harris, with 9 wickets over Zim’s two innings, was the main cause of Zimbabwe’s failure, but Zim did themselves no favours with a typically poor batting display. Tatenda Taibu’s 2nd-innings 41 was the highest score the home team managed, with no other knocks that even looked promising. After being at least half-way competitive in the first match, this performance will be a(nother) huge disappointment. How much more will it take for ZC to realise that something needs to be done?
South Africa A 542/7 decl (Dippenaar 189, Masakadza 1/54), Zimbabwe Select 155 (Utseya 32, Harris 5/67) & 168 (Taibu 41, Harris 4/77). South Africa A win by an innings and 219 runs, win series 2-0. Full scorecard below the cut.
Continue reading ‘Another Day, Another Disaster as SA A Clean Up’
South Africa A 542/7 decl (Dippenaar 189, Masakadza 1/54), Zimbabwe Select 36/3 (Masakadza 15, Harris 2/5)
Some reports of Day Two make much of the off-field catering problems at Queen’s Sports Club (uncooked chicken, anyone?), but on-field problems were of more concern for Zimbabwe, as their 3-spinner bowling attack was comprehensively ripped to shreds. Boeta Dippenaar and Hasim Amla managed a partnership of 256 before Amla finally departed for 142, while Dippenaar continued to 189. The remaining SA batsmen didn’t fare quite so well, but still inflicted some damage before Dippenaar finally declared, with around a hour’s play left in the day and the score on 542/7.
In reply, Zimbabwe did what they so often do and collapsed - Taylor caught for 2, Sibanda LBW for 4, Masakadza caught for 15, and at close of play Zim were left at a woeful 36/3. Heroics required on day three if the match is even to be considered a contest, but the odds of that don’t look good.
Scotland v India: Only ODI Scotland 203/9 (46/46 overs; Hamilton 44, Singh 2/26), India 212/3 (39.5/46 overs; Gambhir 85*, Haq 1/32). India win by 7 wickets.
CricInfo are indulging in a little fantasy cricket today, and have come up with what they feel should be Zimbabwe’s current first team, if politics and player disputes weren’t an issue. Some players who quit for other, personal reasons (such as Murray Goodwin) or have had ongoing injury problems (eg Douglas Hondo) have been ommitted, but the article makes for a good read.
For the record, their ideal XI (in no particular order) is:
Dion Ebrahim, Trevor Gripper, Grant Flower, Stuart Carlisle, Sean Ervine, Tatenda Taibu, Travis Friend, Andy Blignaut, Heath Streak, Ray Price, Anthony Ireland.
And what of the current side, Taibu excepted?
We also did consider the current XI but the general view was that none of them would be able to make this side, although some players would come close. We were still left with a more than useful list of reserves: Gavin Rennie, Barney Rogers, Craig Ervine, Craig Wishart, Colin de Grandhomme (now qualifying for New Zealand), Clint Heron, Brighton Watambwa (who now lives in the USA)…
Perhaps yesterday’s hammering by South Africa A will help ZC see sense. But probably not.
CricInfo - Look what you’re missing
From CricInfo…
According to reliable sources, the South African team returning from a short visit to the World Heritage Site, the Matopos National Park which is situated near Bulawayo, were turned away in the evening from local restaurants which had run out of ingredients.
The players then opted for the not-so-healthy option of takeaways from various South African-owned fast-food franchises, but those had also run out of supplies. The only place still serving food was a pizza outlet, which had a long and winding queue. Most of the players were unprepared to wait, leaving them no option but to return to the hotel. Only Andre Nel and Andrew Hall were hungry enough to join the queue, and they were later picked up by the team bus.
It is also reported that the team were left short on the final day of the match in Harare at the weekend, with shortages meaning that there was no “beer, bread or burgers” at the ground according to a local source.
Aw, those poor dears…
CricInfo - South Africa A experience food shortages
South Africa A 287/2 (Amla 115*, Dippenaar 103*, Mpofu 1/62), Zimbabwe Select yet to bat.
Back to normal for Zimbabwe as SA A quietly racked up the runs in Bulawayo yesterday. The day started okay with the removal of Morne van Wyk (given LBW off Christopher Mpofu) and Imraan Khan (run out by Elton Chigumbura), but with Hashim Amla and Boeta Dippenaar at the crease and Zimbabwe’s fielding decidedly shaky, SA were able to settle and score comfortably. Dropped catches were the order of the day, with Matiskenyeri, Taylor, Taibu and Masakadza all failing to hold on to opportunities - the game could have been so much different if they’d just held on.
End result - plenty of work for Zim to do on day two to try and keep South Africa in check.
Netherlands v Bermuda: Inter-Continental Cup Match, Day Three Bermuda 183 (Romaine 103*, Panchal 5/34) & 183 (Leverock 52, Schiferli 3/49), Netherlands 410 (de Grooth 196, O’Brien 5/118). Netherlands win by an innings and 44 runs.
Netherlands v Bermuda: Inter-Continental Cup Match, Day Two Bermuda 183 (Romaine 103*, Panchal 5/34) & 51/3 (Celestine 29*), Netherlands 410 (de Grooth 196, O’Brien 5/118)
Zim have named their squad for next month’s Twenty20 World Championships in South Africa. Tatenda Taibu returns to the full national squad, while Tino Mawoyo’s poor batting form sees him dropped in favour of newcomer Johnson Marumisa. Keith Dabengwa is also recalled, Sean Williams returns from injury, and Brendan Taylor is back in the side after his brief disagreement with ZC - presumably Taibu will take on wicketkeeping duties. The full squad is:
Prosper Utseya (captain), Gary Brent, Chamu Chibhabha, Elton Chigumbura, Keith Dabengwa, Timycen Maruma, Hamilton Masakadza, Stuart Matsikinyeri, Johnson Marumisa, Christopher Mpofu, Tawanda Mupariwa, Vusi Sibanda, Tatenda Taibu, Brendon Taylor, Sean Williams.
Netherlands v Bermuda: Inter-Continental Cup Match, Day One Bermuda 183 (Romaine 103*, Panchal 5/34), Netherlands 152/0 (de Grooth 79*, Kervezee 69*).