Zimbabwe in West Indies 2006

[Miraz]

After current aussie series our next mission will be Zimbabwe. I am keen to watch the progress of the Zimbabwe side after recent development. It seems Zimbabwe are in right direction after a long time. They have started the tour well and defeated Antigua and Barbuda in two successive matches. Their batting really impressed me. In first match chasing a victory target of 180 they have only lost 4 wickets and in second match they have posted massive 304 runs.

Bangladesh will visit Zimbabwe in July. I will be following current Zimbo tour and waiting to see some good cricket against Zimbabwe in July.

[ajithlalm]

Any news about the schedule of match in July against Zimbabwe and Kenya ? Whats the latest news ? How many matches ?

[battye]

I really hope Zimbabwe win against the West Indies. They have had so many problems for a few years now, it would be nice to see them get a few wins under their belt.

[prasad]

this series will us an idea..abt how long bd can go in the champions trophy.with lara in the odi squad and a couple of 90+mph bowlers,bd shud target sl.the chances of bd beating sl is higher.

[Sovik]

Bangladeshi cricketers should watch this series. if they have a tour in zimbabwe and they will face west indies in champions trophy

[insideedge]

Zimbabwe beating west Indies? I do not think so. West Indies have been losing badly, but to teams ranked above them. I do not think they will have any trouble blanking the current Zimbabwe side.

[Sovik]

Does anyone have any link to watch this match live

[Spitfire_x86]

I hope Zimbo gets badly thrashed in all 7 ODIs.

[ajithlalm]

The pitch look terrible. I doubt Zimbabwe make to 200 in this pitch especially with these uneven bounces.

[Hatebreed]

I hope Zimbabwe gets violated by WI.

[sar2005]

Zimbabwe: 151/9 (50.0 Ovs)
West Indies: 154/5 (38.2 Ovs)

West Indies won the low scoring 1st match by 5 wickets, but not before ZIM has shown some real fight. WI needed to play till 39th over to reach moderate total of 151 and in the process they lost 5 wickets that include Gyle, Sarwan and Chanderpal. An unbeaten captain's knock by Lara (40) make sure WI in home.

As stated by cricbuzz -
It was a bit of a patience tester for the viewers. After restricting Zimbabwe for 151, one would have expected some fireworks from Gayle and a quick finish to the match with some entertaining strokeplay. But it was not to be, the home team kept losing wickets and the scoring rate was pretty slow. However, as they say, all is well that ends well. A good start for Lara's fresh innings as captain, he will take it in positive stride and will be looking forward to do better.

[sar2005]

Have Bangladesh ever played a 7 matches ODI serries?? Not that I know. I wish BD also will be invited to play such long ODI serries against some good opponants. It would be greate if we could 7 matches against WI. I don't know how WI agreed to play such a long ODI serries against ZIM.

[pilot fan]

i watched the game and zim looked promising mainly the batsmen chibanhana and taylor and bowlers rainsford higgins and uteysa they could give us a stern test

[battye]

2nd ODI: 52/0 (12.5 ov) WI

That is thanks to 3 fours in the over, just a few minutes ago WI were 0/37 after 12.
Zimbabwe bowling has been tight, bar this over.

Any score in excess of 200 - 220 might be a bit much for them to chase down though.

[Sovik]

don't know anything about the pitches in west indies. but looks like they are still struggling. and if this struggling continues we may have a fair chance of wiining against them

[Carte Blanche]

West Indies 242/9 (50 ov)
Zimbabwe 48/3 (10.5 ov)

Trouble again for the Zimbos. I'm surprised so many people here want to see Zim lose badly. I thought most people would root for the underdogs.

[Hatebreed]

Nein!

[sar2005]

If you are interested in audio link of WI vs ZIM match, try below -
http://www.cmatt.com/abs.htm

[Ashtheman]

I think Zim are still pretty bad, we have shown real improvement against Australia I think and if we take that on against a far inferior team we should do well.

[TheWatcher]

Martin Williamson has provided a nice analysis of Zimbabwe team-

For their part, Zimbabwe have fielded superbly and their bowlers have also kept up the pressure. Ed Rainsford used the new ball well on both days, and the only worry is that he leaves the tour after the fourth ODI to take up a club commitment in England. However, his opening partner, Blessing Mahwire, showed he lacks the control to really trouble good batsmen, bowling too many no-balls and wides.

Utseya, who turned 21 earlier this month, showed he has a real cricketing brain and bowled with clever variations in speed and flight. It remains to be seen what happens when a batsman gets after him - Sarwan briefly did today - but he looks to have promise.

Zimbabwe's real weakness is in their batting. That is understandable, as they have lost too many frontline players in recent years and the lack of experience and match practice among what remains is obvious to see. Some of their techniques, especially against the ball leaving the batsman, are inadequate, and while they can survive, they struggle to score. In 100 overs this weekend, Zimbabwe's run-rate was barely over three an over. The exception to that is 19-year-old Justice Chibhabha, who showed some delightful touches and passed fifty in both matches while none of his colleagues made more than 26.

There are enough signs that Zimbabwe might have bottomed out, and if they can hold on to the current side then they could provide an upset or two when they meet Bangladesh in the dozen or so ODIs scheduled between the two later this year. If they could lure back some of talent that has been driven away, then it could only help the rebuilding process.

From Cricinfo

[prasad]

watch out for dwayne smith in the qualifiers(iccct)..this man can murder pace bowling.his six hitting ability is almost unmatched.mayb afridi comes close.will post some videos later to prove this.

[Sovik]

Originally Posted by prasad
watch out for dwayne smith in the qualifiers(iccct)..this man can murder pace bowling.his six hitting ability is almost unmatched.mayb afridi comes close.will post some videos later to prove this.

I have seen him hitting sixes against pace bowling but how good is he against spinners. Pitches in India will be spin friendly and we have 3 good left arm spinners. but our real threat will be Sarwan and of course Brian Lara. and everyone else can be easy to handle

[Tigers_eye]

Originally Posted by sar2005
Have Bangladesh ever played a 7 matches ODI serries?? Not that I know. I wish BD also will be invited to play such long ODI serries against some good opponants. It would be greate if we could 7 matches against WI. I don't know how WI agreed to play such a long ODI serries against ZIM.

In the original schedule there were test matches. But since those got cancelled they had plenty of the days to schedule more ODIs. WI is desperate of getting any kind of financial benefit (TV - sponser deal).

[prasad]

these r dwayne smith's performance against bd.looks impressive

Batting
Versus M Inns NO 50s 100s HS Runs Avg Ca St
Bangladesh 3 3 1 1 0 *62 87 43.50 2 0

not just the average.his strike rates r usually above 110.and six hitting amazing.not a bad player against spin.but think he prefers pace bowling.and also his fielding and batting abilities r fine.shud b interesting to c him bat against mushrafe,shahadat,rafique.personally,i feel bd shud bring islam rana here.he has bowled well against wi.razzak is not quite the class of rana.rana had his wkt twice out of 3 times.once lbw and other one bowled.and wi overall...doesnt play left arm spinners well.

[DJ Sahastra]

WI Vs Zimbabwe is as exciting as watching the paint in your bedroom dry up.