zimcricketnews.com

The tri-series in Kenya has now been confirmed - there had been some speculation that Ireland would face pressure from the Irish Government over facing Zimbabwe, but Cricket Ireland Chief Executive Warren Deutrom has confirmed that they've cleared the series with the Department of Foreign Affairs, and there are no problems with the series being played on neutral ground.

In seperate news, ZC have also released the itinerary for Sri Lanka's visit to the country in November. The tour will comprise one 4-day match, a 1-day tour match and 5 ODIs - full details on our Fixtures page.

CricInfo lists the following fixtures for a tri-series in Kenya, with all matches to be played at the Gymkhana Ground in Nairobi:

Friday 17 October       Ireland v Zimbabwe
Saturday 18 October     Kenya v Ireland
Sunday 19 October       Kenya v Zimbabwe
Tuesday 21 October      Ireland v Zimbabwe
Wednesday 22 October    Kenya v Ireland
Thursday 23 October     Kenya v Zimbabwe

There's no official confirmation of this series yet that I'm aware of, so don't take this as certain.

Zimbabwe will meet Kenya in an ODI series in September / October of this year. The tour is part of ZC's efforts to fill in their schedule after the postponment of the tour by India, although they're also hoping to get at least one other series scheduled for earlier in the year. Speaking to the Zimbabwe Independent, Cricket Kenya spokesman Tom Tikolo stated they were hoping to arrange for another side to join the tour to allow for a tri-series:

"The tour is to take place in September/October 2008 and we hope that we can have another international team to have (a) tri-series. We hope we can get at least three ODIs and two four-day matches."

Cricket Kenya are also hoping that if results go their way, the tour will encourage other Full Member sides to play against them, and that the tour will help improve Zimbabwe's own standards:

"We are continually talking to other countries to settle on matches for the team. At the moment we still hope that the ICC will insist on the teams to play us. We would really wish that our participation in engagements with Zimbabwe would become a permanent fixture for us. Reciprocal visits should be encourages at all levels."

"We at Cricket Kenya sympathise with our Zimbabwean brethren in that a strong Zimbabwe would build a strong Kenya. We would like to see a lot more interactions between the two of us in order to support our causes at the ICC."

Can't argue with that sentiment...
Zimbabwe Independent - Zimbabwe Cricket Bids To Fill India Void

According to CricInfo, the UK government has decided to leave any decision on Zimbabwe's scheduled tour of England in 2009 to the ECB. Speaking in a House of Lords debate on the issue, Lord Malloch-Brown stated:

"The Foreign Secretary and others in this government have made it clear that we do not encourage the ECB to allow Zimbabwe to tour England in 2009 or England to tour Zimbabwe in 2012 if the situation in the country is as it is now. We continue to speak to the ECB about these issues but it remains a decision for the board. We have decided that the government can make their position clear, but that it is not for us to intervene directly in this matter."

Without government intervention, the ECB would face a hefty ICC ban if the tour were to be cancelled - meaning that it now seems likely to go ahead as planned.
CricInfo - Government to leave Zimbabwe decision to the ECB

Stand-in Zim captain Hamilton Masakadza has spoken of the sides disappointment after being trounced 5-0 in the ODI series against Pakistan:

"Obviously, it was a very disappointing series because I thought we should have won at least two matches because we were in positions from which we could have won three of the ODIs but we kept losing. We have seen what works and what does not so next time when we are in a position of dominance, we must carry that through instead of losing the initiative as we did several times during this tour."

Masakadza rightly points out that Zim weren't outclassed in most matches on the trip, which is another positive that can be taken - but as ever, Zimbabwe need to perform well in all three disciplines of the game, and not just one or two, if they're to get back to winning ways.
Zimbabwe Cricket - Masakadza says Zim learnt vital lessons in Pak

Despite facing an almost second-string Pakistan side, Zimbabwe ended up on the receiving end of the biggest losing margin in the series in the 5th and final ODI in Sheikpura on Saturday. Batting first, a string of poor performances (with only Brendan Taylor's 49 standing out) saw the side bundled out for just 181, while in reply Pakistan took full advantage of Zim's weakened bowling to run up the required runs in just 31 overs, for the loss of 3 wickets. Not much to say past that - from a strong start and some close matches early on, Zimbabwe have fallen away as the series progressed, and some questions now need to be answered about their commitment, especially in this match. If the side are to do well in the upcoming MTN one-day series against the South African franchise sides, then there are issues that need to be addressed.
Zimbabwe 181 (Taylor 48, Abdur Rauf 3/45), Pakistan 187/3 (Younis Khan 63, Price 2/38). Pakistan win by 7 wickets, win series 5-0.

Full scorecard below the cut. Next match: Zimbabwe v Dolphins (MTN Domestic Series), Harare Sports Club, 8 February.

Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat in the 4th ODI in Faisalabad, and as ever were soon off to a poor start as Sibanda and Maskadza departed early on. An 85-run partnership between Tatenda Taibu (51) and Sean Williams (48) gave the side some much-needed stabilty, though, and helped form the basis for what turned out to be a half-decent innings. Useful lower-order contributions were made by Chamu Chibhabha (30) and Elton Chigumbura (24), while at the tail end Keith Dabengwa finally proved his worth with a rapid-fire 45, including 19 in the final over to give Zim a much-needed boost. There was some bad luck along the way - Gary Brent was given out to a run-out decision where the replay suggested he was in - while Shoaib Malik was the best with the ball for Pakistan, taking 3/55 from 9.5 overs. Zimbabwe were bowled out for 244 with just 1 ball remaining - that left Pakistan to chase a target of 245, at 4.9/over. Definitely gettable.

Zimbabwe's bowling started off well enough, with the early wickets of Nasir Jamshed (11) and Khalid Laitf (19) giving the side early hope. But from there on, they were unable to take wickets and, while the usual mid-innings choke tactic was applied by Price, Mpofu and Chigumbura, once their over were used up Zim were into the part-timers, who were treated with appropriate disdain. Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf put on 141 for the 3rd wicket before Malik was eventually run out for 88, but even from there Yousuf and Fawad Alam were very rarely bothered & saw the innings out - Yousuf scoring 108, Alam 12 - to take Pakistan to a 4-0 series lead.
Zimbabwe 244 (49.5 overs; Williams 48, Shoaib Malik 3/55), Pakistan 245/3 (47.0 overs; Mohammad Yousuf 108*, Chigumbura 1/36). Pakistan win by 7 wickets, lead series 4-0 with 1 to play.

Scorecard & highlights below the cut. Next match: Pakistan v India, 5th ODI: 2 February 2008 at Sheikhupura.

Zimbabwe let a great chance of winning slip through their fingers in the 3rd ODI in Multan. Batting first, Pakistan found themselves in a large amount of trouble after Zimbabwe took 4 wickets for just 12 runs scored to leave the home side's top order in disarray and the score at just 78/5 - but from there Zim had the initiative snatched from their hands as Mishbah-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi put on a 6th-wicket partnership of 116 to tilt the odds back in Pakistan's favour. With Prosper Utseya out of the match with a torn hamstring, it fell to a collection of Zim's part-time bowlers to help pin Pakistan back in the later overs, and while the regular bowlers Brentm, Price, Mupariwa and Chigumbura did their part, the 11 overs bowled by the part-timers (Williams, Chibhabha, Dabengwa and Masakadza) cost the side dearly, with Pakistan eventually posting 272/9 from their 50 overs.

In reply, the heavy work was done by Sean Williams (71) and Brendan Taylor (55), who combined to put on 105 for the 4th wicket after Sibanda, Masakadza and Taibu didn't quite click on the day - but their progress was slower than Zimbabwe needed to make a real game of it. The regular stream of falling wickets after they left the crease just helped ensure the total was soon beyond them, although Elton Chigumbura's 42 did add some entertainment value to the later overs.

Zimbabwe did have the chance to win this, but as coach Robin Brown said in his post-match interview, the killer instinct the side needed to take that chance just wasn't there:

We basically lacked the killer instinct that is required to polish things off. Obviously (we are) disappointed by the effort we put in, it would take a lot of skills and effort to contain the strong Pakistan line-up, something we are lacking.

"I wouldn't say it was a negative approach. Pakistan bowled really well. They bowled in the right areas and there weren't that many bad balls. Therefore, it made things really difficult for us and although the batsmen were well set, hitting boundaries became really difficult and the asking-rate kept climbing.

"There are, however, things to be improved upon. Most of our batsmen have been among the runs. Two of our batsmen scored fifties today. We need to look to get 6-7 fifties in a match and only then will we be able to win. Hopefully, we can learn quickly enough to win the next two matches."

Pakistan 272/9 (50 overs; Shahid Afridi 85, Mupariwa 4/46), Zimbabwe 235/7 (50 overs; Williams 71, Sohail Tanvir 2/41). Pakistan win by 37 runs, win series 3-0 with 2 to play.
Full scorecard below the cut. Next match: Pakistan v Zimbabwe, 4th ODI, Faisalabad: 30th January 2008.

Pakistan have tinkered with their squad for the 3rd ODI, drafting in two uncapped players - bowler Sohail Khan and wicketkeeper-batsman Khalid Latif for the match. Samiullah Niazi and Sarfraz Ahmed have been dropped to make way for them.
Pakistan squad: Shoaib Malik (Capt), Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Khalid Latif, Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Kamran Akmal, Sohail Khan, Rao Iftikhar, Sohail Tanvir, Kamran Hussain and Yasir Arafat.

Zimbabwe squandered a good start in the 2nd ODI against Pakistan - Hamilton Masakadza (87) and Tatenda Taibu (81) put on a 3rd-wicket stand of 137 to put Zim in a good position, but once again the batting collapsed as the Pakistanis ripped through the tail, led by Sohail Tanvir's 4/34. Brendan Taylor was the only other batsman to put up a fight, but even he only managed 26, while the rest of the side failed to reach double figures. Zim finished their allotted overs on 238/6, leaving Pakistan requiring 239 at 4.78/over.

Bowling, Zimbabwe have one major problem as captain Prosper Utseya has had to leave the field with a hamstring injury, leaving the side missing one of their best bowlers. Nasir Jamshed also signalled his intent to carry on from where he left off in the first ODI, and powered his way to 74 before being run out. Without Utseya's knack of controlling the middle overs, it was left to Ray Price to take the lead, and with 1/21 from his 10 overs he certainly did his part - but once Price and Brent completed their overs, the lack of experience in some of the other bowlers was exposed and Pakistan, who at one stage were only just keeping up with the required rate, were able to finish off the match with time to spare.

Zim will be able to take some positives from this match - they were certianly competitive in it - but the failure of the lower-order batsmen to contribute, combined with the loss of Utseya, made sure they weren't going to win it.
Zimbabwe 238/8 (50 overs; Masakadza 87, Sohail Tanvir 4/34), Pakistan 239/5 (46.2 overs; Nasir Jamshed 74, Price 1/21). Pakistan win by 5 wickets, lead series 2-0 with 3 to play.

Next match: 3rd ODI in Multan, 27 January 2008. Scorecard below the cut.