Zimbabwe Chevrons completed their Standard Bank Pro20 participation with a convincing win over Nashua Titans on Friday. Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat, and with their batting lineup finally clicking (with the exception of Hamilton Masakadza’s early duck) put on 151/6 from their 20 overs. Stuart Matsikenyeri knocked an impressive 51 off 37 balls, while Brendan Taylor (38), Kieth Dabengwa (25) and Chamu Chibhabha (22) also contributed. Roelof van der Merwe took 3/18 for Titans.
While the batting was decent, though Chevrons’ bowling was outstanding - initially, at least - as Elton Chigumbura demolished Titans’ top order - he took 5/13, leaving Titans reeling on 10/5 and securing the best bowling figures in the history of the competition. van der Merwe’s unbeaten 70 saw Titans claw their way back to within grasping distance of their target, but it wasn’t to be as some tight bowling during the final overs saw them fall short, reaching 139/9 from 20 overs and giving Chevrons a 12-run victory. Scorecard below the cut.
If only Zimbabwe could play like this all the time. Even allowing for injuries, their performance in this tournament has been disappointing, with some abject surrenders along the way - the side are better than their two wins would have you believe, but for some reason they haven’t performed even close to their potential for most of the matches, and have missed out on a semi-final place as a result. On the upside, they at least avoided the indignity of propping up the table. Zimbabwean interest now moves on to the Logan Cup, which is due to kick off on 17 April with matches between Centrals and Westerns at Kwekwe, and Easterns v Northerns at Mutare.
Zimbabwe Chevrons 151/6 (20/20 overs; Matsikenyeri 51, van der Merwe 3/18), Nashua Titans 139/9 (van der Merwe 70*, Chigumbura 5/13). Chevrons win by 12 runs.
Continue reading ‘Chevrons Seal Consolation Win Against Titans’
Zimbabwe Chevrons put in their worst performance of the Standard Bank Pro20 last night, and even the lack of several key players couldn’t excuse it. Batting first, Chevrons managed a woeful 84 from their full 20 overs - Eltom Chigumbura top-scored with 18, while Charl Langeveldt took 3/14 for the home side. Chevrons had a very poor start, being 2/4 at one point after Taylor and Masakadza fell for 0 and 1 respectively, and things really didn’t improve much from there - apparently shell-shocked by the early losses, Chevrons simply shut up shot and played a Test-style innings that was completely inappropriate to the task at hand.
Cape Cobras, in reply, didn’t mess about & clearly remembered what form of the game they were playing. Chevrons’ only bright spots were two mid-innings wickets for Ray Price (2/8) - the only wickets of the innings - as Cobras raced to the target within 13 overs, led by opener Andrew Puttick’s unbeaten 41. That also puts paid to any remote chance that remained of Chevrons reaching the semi-finals - they can beat Australia, but a South African franchise side is too much for ‘em. Go figure.
Chevrons’ final match is against Titan at Centurion on Friday (11th April). Full scorecard for this match below the cut.
Zimbabwe Chevrons 84/9 (20/20 overs; Chigumbura 18, Langeveldt 3/14), Nashua Cape Cobras 87/2 (12.4/20 overs; Puttick 41*, Price 2/8). Cape Cobras win by 8 wickets.
Continue reading ‘Cape Cobras Hammer Chevrons’
Tatenda Taibu will miss Chevrons’ final two Standard Bank Pro20 matches, thanks to his IPL committments - IPL players are required to be in India by 11th April unless they have international committments, which Chevrons don’t count as. Tino Mawoyo has been called up as his replacement, while Steven Nyamuzinga (who had been selected in place of Regis Chakabva) is dropped in favour of Graeme Cremer.
Chevrons lost narrowly to the Nashua Dolphins in Durban last night, leaving them propping up the Standard Bank Pro20 table - although the bottom three sides are only separated by Net Run Rate. Chevrons won the toss and uncharacteristically opted to bat first, and were quickly in trouble - openers Tatenda Taibu (1) and Hamilton Masakadza (14) fell quickly, and the rest of the batting order in general weren’t much better. It was only a determined 55 from Brendan Taylor that save the side from embarrassment, helped by a useful run-a-ball 24 from Chamu Chibhabha. They did manage to bat out their overs, reaching 131/8, but that was always going to be a difficult target to defend. For Dolphins, Daryn Smit took 3/19.
Dolphins took the slow & cautious route in reply, reaching 2/66 without any serious problems. At that point they suffered a mid-innings wobble, losing 3 wickets for 20 runs, but that wasn’t enough to stop them from reaching their target with 4 balls to spare. Doug Watson top-scored with 35, while Keith Dabengwa took 3/19 for Chevrons.
A closer match than Chevrons’ previous two outings in the competition, but still a disturbing lack of consistency with the bat. Full scorecard below the cut. Next match is against Cape Cobras in Durban, on 9th April.
Zimbabwe Chevrons 131/8 (20/20 overs; Taylor 55, Smit 3/19), Nashua Dolphins 132/6 (19.2/20 overs; Watson 35, Dabengwa 3/19). Dolphins win by 4 wickets.
Continue reading ‘Chevrons Fail Again Against Dolphins’
Another bad day for Zimbabwe in the Standard Bank Pro20, and while the loss against Eagles could be put down to the Loots Bosman one-man show, there were no such excuses this time around - Chevrons simply weren’t up to the task. After winning the toss and putting Lions in to bat, it looked as though things were going Zimbabwe’s way as opener Blake Snijman fell with the score on just 5, but from there Lions soon found their footing and worked their way to 158/5 from their 20 overs. Vaughn van Jaarsveld top-scored with an unbeaten 65, while Keith Dabengwa took 2/34 from his 4 overs, as some questionable bowling decisions saw Chevrons struggle to contain the home side.
In reply, Chevrons were never remotely in the chase, as wickets fell in a steady procession. Only Stuart Matsikenyeri (32) put up any resistance, and Chevrons’ final score of 90 all out was simply an embarrassment. Cliff Deacon took 4/15 for Lions to lead their bowling figures.
With the opening Logan Cup matches in Zimbabwe coinciding with the semi-finals and final of this series, you have to wonder if Zimbabwe are deliberately not trying to avoid any fixture clash for their own players. It certainly seems that something isn’t right, as most of the decent performances that Zimbabwe have managed lately in 50-over matches now seem distant history. Full scorecard below the cut. Chevrons’ next match is against Dolphins in Durban on 2nd April. Hopefully the gap between matches will give them a chance to regroup.
bizhub Highveld Lions 158/5 (20/20 overs; van Jaarsveld 65*, Dabengwa 2/34), Zimbabwe Chevrons 90 (17.5/20 overs; Matsikenyeri 32, Deacon 4/15). Lions win by 68 runs.
Continue reading ‘Chevrons Hammered Again as Lions Claim Victory’
Zimbabwe Chevrons were completely outclassed buy the Gestetner Diamond Eagles last night, in the Chevrons’ second Standard Bank Pro20 match. Eagles won the toss and elected to bat, and courtesy mainly of Loots Bosman were soon flaying the Zimbabwean bowling to all corners of the field. In a rain-shortened innings, Bosman smashed 94 runs off just 49 balls, helping Eagles on their way to an impressive total of 181/3 from their 17 overs. On a bad night for the bowlers, Tawanda Mupariwa was the only one with even halfway-respectable figures, taking 1/14 from 2.3 overs.
That left Chevrons on the back foot before their innings even started, and while Zim’s batsmen did initially show some determination to try and chase their target - and at a required rate of nearly 11/over, that was no easy task - the need to score quick runs led to quick wickets for Eagles. Only Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor put up any resistance, both scoring 28, as the Zimbabwe Collapse™ saw Chevrons withdraw into defensive mode, leaving them to score just 89/9 from their alotted overs.
Very disappointing outing, then, after the close win on Tuesday night, and the bonus point collected sees Eagles go top of the table, with Chevrons in third. Full scorecard below the cut. Next match: Highveld Lions in Johannesburg, on Thursday night.
Gestetner Diamond Eagles 181/3 (Bosman 94, Mupariwa 1/14), Zimbabwe Chevrons 89/9 (Masakadza 28, Taylor 28, Tshabalala 2/16). Eagles win by 98 runs (D/L method).
Continue reading ‘Chevrons Outclassed by Eagles’
Zimbabwe Chevrons very nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against the Warriors last night, before clinching the game on the last ball - not exactly the best possible start, but I’ll take it.
Chevrons won the toss and elected to field, allowing Warriors to set the pace. That pace was slow but steady by Twenty20 standards, as disciplined bowling by Chevrons restricted the home side to 122/5 from their 20 overs. Justin Kreusch top-scored with 30, while most of Zimbabwean bowlers returned figures that wouldn’t have looked too bad in a 50-over match, never mind 20. Elton Chigumbura was the pick of the bunch, with 1/14 from 3 overs.
In reply, Chevrons were off to a flyer thanks to Hamilton Masakadza, Tatenda Taibu and Chamu Chibhabha, who helped the side to 78/3 before the wheels started to fall off. A number of quick wickets left the side in real trouble at 91/7 before Steven Nyamuzinga helped stabilise things; he and Raymond Price then went on to knock off the winning runs and give Chevrons a 2-wicket victory - not bad at all considering Zimbabwe are playing a side that’s been significantly weakened by injury.
Full scorecard below the cut. The Chevrons’ next match is against Eagles later today (Wednesday).
Chevrolet Warriors 122/5 (20/20 overs; Kreusch 30, Chigumbura 1/14), Zimbabwe Chevrons 123/8 (20/20 overs; Chibhabha 31, Botha 4/19). Zimbabwe Chevrons win by 2 wickets.
Continue reading ‘Chevrons Open Pro20 Account With Last-Ball Win Over Warriors’
Zimbabwe Chevrons have named their squad for the Standard Bank Pro20 series, but with three key players sidelined by injury the early matches may present problems to the side. Sean Williams (ankle), Vusi Sibanda (hip) and Gary Brent (broken finger) are all out for the time being. On the bright side, Elton Chigumbura is back from his hamstring injury and has been named in the squad.
The full squad is: Prosper Utseya (captain), Hamilton Masakadza, Tatenda Taibu (wicketkeeper), Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Brendan Taylor, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Elton Chigumbura, Regis Chakabva, Keith Dabengwa, Raymond Price, Tawanda Mupariwa, Timycen Maruma and Taurai Muzarabani.
Zimbabwe Cricket - Chevrons off to SA for Standard Bank Pro20 Series
I’ve updated the Fixtures page with Zimbabwe’s current fixture list for the Standard Bank Pro20 series - Zim had originally been due to play 3 of their matches at home, but with the tourney clashing with the elections at the end of March, they’re now set to play all their matches away in South Africa. The round-robin stage of the campaign opens against Warriors on 25th March, and ends against the Titans at Centurion on April 11th.
Full scorecard below the cut.
Gestetner Diamond Eagles 244/5 (45/45 overs; Dippenaar 108, Brent 2/17), Zimbabwe Chevrons 246/8 (45/45 overs; Taibu 98*, Telemachus 4/34). Zimbabwe Chevrons win by 2 wickets.
Continue reading ‘Chevrons Sign Off with Win Over Eagles’