Hosts Zimbabwe suffered yet another heart-breaking loss in the Tri-series going down to South Africa for the second time this series. Zimbabwe were good in patches but were not consistent enough to get the job done and beat the Proteas. With this defeat, they have been eliminated with South Africa and New Zealand reaching the finals. While there are many areas where they need to work on, we will try and ascertain areas where they fell behind.
Inability to score in powerplay pegs Zimbabwe back
Zimbabwe lost another toss and were inserted into bat once again. But they were once again slow off the blocks and did not get going. No doubt Brian Bennett played a good innings of 61 runs off 43 balls. But his opening partner struggled with Wessly Madhevere scoring 13 off 14 balls and Clive Madande scored 8 off 8 balls. It meant that Zimbabwe scored only 29 runs for the loss of 2 wickets in the powerplay.
Powerplay batting has been a bane for Zimbabwe and they must sort this issue as soon as possible to do well against top nations. They did well in the middle overs, but had too much catching up to do post a sluggish powerplay. South Africa bowled at the right lines and lengths and never allowed Zimbabwe to get away. Zimbabwe needs to have better plans to do well against big nations.
Lack of finishing kick hampers Zimbabwe’s progress
Zimbabwe came back well post the powerplay as they did well in the middle overs to get back on track. From overs 7-14, the Chevrons managed to score 72 runs for the loss of one wicket and were looking good with Bennett and Burl going nicely. But once again like against New Zealand, they frittered away in the death overs and lost the plot.
From overs 15-20 i.e. the last 6 overs, Zimbabwe could muster only 43 runs for the loss of 3 wickets. The innings fell away with the likes of Sikandar Raza the captain failing once again as without him this team cannot do well. We saw Zimbabwe falling away at the death overs against New Zealand. The same thing was repeated again here against South Africa.
Zimbabwe are struggling to start the innings well and finishing the innings well. They need to sort this issue out quickly before the qualifiers come about otherwise the Chevrons may struggle to qualify for the marquee tournament happening next year i.e. T20 World Cup 2026.
Sikandar Raza’s failure as captain & as player
It was another struggle for Sikandar Raza as the talismanic leader failed to perform for the second match in a row for Zimbabwe. And we have seen when that happens, Zimbabwe are not even in the contest to compete let alone win the match. On a day where Brian Bennett got a good half century, and Ryan Burl played well for his 36* off 31 balls, Raza had a day to forget as he scored 9 off 12 balls with the bat and failed to get his team to a good competitive score.
With the ball in hand, he was dispatched with disdain by South Africa as his 2 overs went for 26 runs. On a day when Maposa got a couple of wickets and Richard Ngarava bowled a good spell, the captain was way off the radar and off the mark and this hurt the team big time if we are being honest.
Sikandar Raza carries the entire team on his head with Williams and Ervine no longer part of scheme of things. Raza needs to fire consistently and inspire his team to do well. He has to do it single-handedly as he is the talismanic player of the team. He is not getting younger and must inspire his teammates to do well against New Zealand in their final appearance in this Tri-Series before future series comes along for them.
What Lies Ahead
There are two league games left before the finals on Saturday. With Zimbabwe losing their game against South Africa, they are eliminated and South Africa and New Zealand will play the finals on Saturday. On Tuesday, South Africa and New Zealand will play against each other before Zimbabwe takes on New Zealand on Thursday before that big final on Saturday.
We have to wait for a few days to see who wins the Tri-series and whether Zimbabwe can end their campaign with a win over New Zealand. Lots to look forward to as we are in the business end of this tri-series.
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