zimcricketnews.com

The Sunday News reports that Cricket Kenya and Zimbabwe Cricket are close to agreeing a tour by the Kenyans, to take place in December. According to the paper, the 3 ODI series is set to be played in Bulawayo. More details once the tour is officially confirmed.

Following on from CricInfo's recent article on the postponement of the National League, which they attributed to cash shortages at the board, ZC have responded along the lines I'd expected (and had originally almost published myself, before deciding to let the board jump to their own defense). Over to Lovemore Banda:

"[B]eing cash-strapped in Zimbabwe at the moment does not equate to being broke. It simply refers to not having enough paper money in one's hands to pay for one's requirements."

"At the time that the National League was scheduled to start, the system of electronic payment which hitherto had enabled buyer and seller to engage in gross settlements in real time, was stopped. Businesses now started demanding payment in cash. What that meant for us was that we needed Zim$48 million in cash for accommodation for just one team for just one night."

"Faced with harsh reality, we postponed the National League. We will now be having it next year, at one location to minimise the logistical challenges posed by the above."

Based on my own understanding of the current situation in Zim, what Banda describes certainly fits with the reality on the ground. The daily cash withdrawal limits for individuals and companies were raised on Monday, but the new coporate limit - ZW$50million - is still paltry when you bear in mind that the unofficial US$:ZW$ exchange rate, as of last week, had reached as high as 40 quadrillion to one.
CricInfo - Zimbabwe board denies it is short of funds

Sri Lanka completed a series clean-sweep over Zimbabwe in the 5th ODI yesterday, in another match that Zimbabwe could have (should have?) won had they managed one or two more decent performances, or a little bit of killer instinct that only Robin Brown seemed to be able to instil in the side. After winning the toss and electing to field, Zimbabwe's bowlers mande full use of a pitch that was very friendly to spin and very difficult for batsmen to restrict Sri Lanka to just 152, the lowest score the Sri Lankans have so far posted against Zimbabwe. Ed Rainsford's return to form continued as he took 3/22, while Tawanda Mupariwa's 2/17 saw him become the fastest Zimbabwe to 50 ODI wickets (28 matches), beating a long-standing record held by Eddo Brandes.

That said, on a rapidly-deteriorating wicket, 152 was still going to be a hard target to reach - and as ever, the good old Zimbabwe Collapse™ appeared to put paid to Zim's chances at an early stage. Hamilton Masakadza, Vusi Sibanda and Chamu Chibhabha all fell in the space of two runs, with the rest of the top order also failing to fire - it was only when Keith Dabengwa and Propser Utseya joined forces that a decent partnership managed to form. It was a partnership that at times looked good enough to win the match, with both men playing a cautious game - with a required run-rate being just 2.5/over, all-out aggression wasn't required - but when Dabengwa finally fell with the score on 130, it marked the beginning of the end, and Zim were finally bowled out for 133.

A little bit of application, and some of that elusive killed instinct, could have seen Zimbabwe win this series 3-2 - which after the horror of the opening two matches would have been no mean feet. Instead, they came close 3 times but failed to finish the job, with the issue in all those matches being the failure of all bar 2 or 3 of the batsmen to put in a decent performance. That means there's some hope for the future (and we've got a few more matches against Sri Lanka coming up in the new year to give the side the chance to go one better), but it's an old story that never seems to be addressed, which is getting beyond frustrating.

Full scorecard below the cut.
Sri Lanka 152 (48.5/50 overs; Kandamby 40, Rainsford 3/22), Zimbabwe 133 (44/50 overs; Dabengwa 39, Muralitharan 5/29). Sri Lanka win by 19 runs.

Zimbabwe again ran Sri Lanka close in the 4th ODI in Harare today, with only Jehan Mubarak's unbeaten 60 saving the visitors' blushes. Having won the toss and elected to field, Sri Lanka managed to bowl Zimbabwe out for just 146 - as ever, a few of Zimbabwe's batsmen got starts but failed to push on, with Keith Dabengwa's 32 being the top score, while the middle and lower orders again failed to fire, collapsing to a score that seemed to leave Sri Lanka set for another easy victory.

Where the batsmen failed, though, the bowlers tried to clean up. After reaching 33 without loss, Sri Lanka suffered a collapse of their own, with Tharanga, Udawatte and Jayawardene all going in quick succession (and with Tawanda Mupariwa being on for a hat-trick at one point), dealing a blow to the Sri Lankans' confidence - and while Utseya and Price where keeping a lid on the scoring, Mupariwa and Elton Chigumbura were together taking a steady string of wickets that at one point left Zimbabwe looking to be in control of the match. Their inability to remove Mubarak, though, eventually proved their undoing, and he eventually guided the visitors home with 2 wickets - and 15 balls - to spare.

After the humiliation of the first 2 ODIs, Zimbabwe have come back well in the 3rd and 4th, and in this match have shown for the first time in a while that they can make a decent go at defending even a low target. While they should arguably have two wins against their record now, they have at least shown that they can play competitively at this level, and for that some credit is due. The final ODI is on Sunday (30th November) - full scorecard for this match is below the cut.
Zimbabwe 146 (46.3/50 overs; Dabengwa 32, Mendis 6/29), Sri Lanka 150/8 (47.3/50 overs; Mubarak 60*, Mupariwa 3/34). Sri Lanka win by 2 wickets.

CricInfo reports that this year's National League competition has been postponed at the last minute (confirming rumours reported by brmtaylor.com a few weeks back), citing the refusal of a number of hotels to accept ZC cheques as a major contributing factor. CricInfo's spin on this is that ZC must be in financial trouble, but while I have my doubts on this based on my own understanding of the situation in Zim at the moment, I'm not going to waste time explaining them here. The next question, of course, is where this will leave the Logan Cup and Faithwear series...
CricInfo - Cash-strapped Zimbabwe cancels competition

After two humiliating defeats, Zimbabwe restored some pride in the 3rd ODI, taking the match to the final ball before narrowly missing out after being in the driving seat for most of the game. Early rain saw the match reduced to 28 overs per side, and after winning the toss captain Prosper Utseya wisely opted to field first. That left the Zim bowlers with the job on containing a Sri Lanka side who were expecting another whitewash - but weren't going to get it this time out. Ed Rainsford and Ray Price combined to keep the Sri Lankan scoring down, while Elton Chigumbura (3/37) and Tawanda Mupariwa (4/39) accounted for seven wickets between them, as the Sri Lankans found themselves unable to build any major partnerships. Kumar Sangakkara's 57 was the best of the bunch and helped the Sri Lankans to 171/7, a score which, while challenging, wasn't entirely beyond Zimbabwe's ability to chase - assuming the batsmen turned up.

They did. Led by an imperious Hamilton Masakadza, who hit 77 off 71 balls, Zimbabwe appeared on course for a critic-silencing win, with Vusi Sibanda (25) and Tatenda Taibu (31) also chipping in. The loss of Masakadza's wicket, though, saw the wheels come off the Zimbabwean innings, with a steady stream of wickets from there leaving the chase looking more and more unlikely. With two overs remaining, Zim needed another 21 runs, at which point a four and six of consecutive balls by Stuart Matsikenyeri left the win definitely on, but Matsikenyeri fell on the first ball of the final over, plumb LBW, leaving the target 10 runs off 5 balls. Tawanda Mupariwa and Sean Williams worked singles off the next four balls to leave Mupariwa charged with scoring a match-winning six off the final ball, but the glory of Brendan Taylor's last-gasp win against Bangladesh wasn't to be repeated here, as Mupariwa found himself stumped after missing his shot.

Mixed feelings, then, as Zimbabwe have delivered a riposte to their doubters but again failed to win a match that should have been theirs. That gives Sri Lanka an unassailable 3-0 lead with 2 matches to play, but Zimbabwe will now have a spring in their step heading into the next two matches. The 4th ODI is on Friday. Full scorecard for this match is below the cut.
Sri Lanka 171/7 (28/28 overs; Sangakkara 57, Mupariwa 4/39), Zimbabwe 166/7 (28/28 overs; Masakadza 77, Muralitharan 2/20). Sri Lanka win by 5 runs.

I'm not going to say much about today's result - I had planned to write a rant here about all that's wrong with ZC that led us to this point, but brmtaylor.com has already done that for me, so I'll just link there and say wot he said. Suffice to say that this was another humiliation that could easily have been avoided by the application of a clue-by-four to the management at Zimbabwe Cricket, who need to go, now, before any further damage is caused to the sport. Shame that's not likely to happen just yet.

Prosper Utseya apparently issued an emotional apology to fans after the match, while Walter Chawaguta has washed his hands of the debacle and blamed the players. Sorry, Walter, but the only difference between this side and the side that beat Australia and West Indies, other than Brendan Taylor, is the coach - under your supervision the squad has tossed aside the good progress they've made over the past few years and gone firmly into reverse. Take responsibility for that.

Scorecard below the cut, if you can bear to look, and the next match is on Monday.
Zimbabwe 67 (31/50 overs; Taibu 12, Mendis 4/15), Sri Lanka 71/1 (17.4/50 overs; Tharanga 29*, Mupariwa 1/18). Sri Lanka win by 9 wickets.

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field in the 1st ODI in Harare today, and while Zimbabwe got off to a decent start, reaching 121/4, the loss of 7 wickets for just 3 runs (the three runs going to not-out batsman Tatenda Taibu - the 7 men out all failed to score) brought the famous Zimbabwe Collapse™ to new levels. Taibu was the top-scorer on 36*, but that was no consolation in a truly dismal display. Murali, who Proser Utseya claimed before the match was "no threat", took 4/14 from just 4 overs, while Mendis chipped in with 3/26, leaving Sri Lanka with an eminently chasable target.

In reply, Sri Lanka lost a wicket before a run was even on the board as Upul Tharanga was run out thanks to Chris Mpofu's quick reflexes, giving hopeful fans the thought of the wickets continuing to tumble through Sri Lanka's innings, but sadly that wasn't to be. While Zim did the best they could to contain Sri Lanka, with such a small target to bowl to they were always on the losing end of the battle and, after an innings that's not likely to be remembered for being entertaining cricket, the visitors reached their target with 100 balls remaining. Sangakkara's unbeaten 50 was the to Sri Lankan score, while Price's 2/24 was the highlight of an economical if unthreatening performance by Zim's bowlers.

If there's hope to be taken from this match, it's from the bowling and fielding performances - as ever, it's the batsmen who have let us down once again. Scorecard & innings commentaries for this match are below the cut - next match is on Saturday. See you then.
Zimbabwe 127 (31/50 overs; Taibu 36*, Muralitharan 4/14), Sri Lanka 130/4 (33.2/50 overs; Sangakkara 50*, Price 2/24). Sri Lanka win by 6 wickets.

ZC have announced their squad for the 1st ODI versus Sri Lanka - it may be the squad for the full series, but the announcement is typically vague and I certainly hope it isn't. Notable inclusions are Tatenda Taibu (who has other worries that cricket and, according to CricInfo, has been locked in a pay & conditions dispute with ZC as well) and Ed Rainsford, who returns from the international wilderness to bring some pace to the side. One very noticeable absence is Sean Williams, who despite having Walter Chawaguta chasing him to make himself available manages to miss out on selection in a frankly mystifying decision. It's a decent squad, though, and should be reasonably competitive if they can perform to their capabilities.
Squad: Prosper Utseya (captain), Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Elton Chigumbura, Keith Dabengwa, Timycen Maruma, Hamilton Masakadza, Shingirai Masakadza, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Christopher Mpofu, Tawanda Mupariwa, Forster Mutizwa, Raymond Price, Edward Rainsford, Vusimuzi Sibanda and Tatenda Taibu.

An ICC fact-finding team, led by Dr Julian Hunte (president of the WICB) has arrived in Harare to gauge the current state of Zimbabwean cricket. With this year's National League competition having apparently been cancelled and there now being a continuing player drain at the lower levels of the sport in Zim, it may not be the best timing from ZC's point of view. The ICC team will also be looking at the policies and arrangements that ZC have in place with regard to working towards a return to Test cricket. Their report is unlikely to be glowing, I would have thought - but I'll be very surprised if any report, no matter how negative, makes any difference to how ZC are running the game...