Zimbabwe

[khw]

I'm always a much bigger fan of the international than domestic game in Cricket Captain and prefer to captain the relative minnows than the powerhouses of international cricket. And minnows don't come smaller than Zimbabwe!

Check the domestic scene. Man, these must be some bowling friendly pitches! Only a few guys average over 40, probably between 10-20 guys average in the 30s. So not a huge number of options. Even worse, none of these are openers! I assume the game must build in something that factors in batsmen batting out of position, so I'm wary of going in with two middle order batsmen first up. One of the other hand, look at those bowling averages. You trip over yourselves for quick bowlers and spinners averaging in the low twenties.

My preference would be to develop a set of young guys but needs must and some of your best available players are relative veterans. So it's a case of treading water for a while and hoping the domestic scene provides some good youngsters. I'm not too optimistic.

First series is a home one vs Sri Lanka, so a chance to be competitive at least.

So squad selection involves taking a lot of punts. I tend to check FC averages rather than Test averages unless someone's Test average is way better than their FC one. The trickiest choice was the two openers but I chose guys with late 20s averages but who performed well last season (Maunze and Kasuza). The middle order is Burl, Ervine, Williams and Masakadza (there's a few from the same family playing FC cricket - at least one quick and one slow leftie). Moor is keeping wicket and the four bowlers are the all rounder Madziva, the offie Mufudza and the two RFMs, Mumba and Chatara. We win the toss and bat first.

Zimbabwe 297 (Moor 93, Williams 72, Chameera 3-58)

Sri Lanka 175 (Chandimal 56, Shanaka 51, Chatara 3-35, Mumba 3-39)

Zimbabwe: 255 (Moor 84, Madziva 46, Chameera 4-60)

Sri Lanka: 213 (De Silva 78, Shanaka 57, Mumba 3-35, Mufudza 3-87)

A solid first innings which could have been better had it not been for the last four wickets falling in a heap. Then the seamers tore through Sri Lanka, reducing them to 23-5. Two strong partnerships at least made their first innings respectable. Then of course we lost the first two wickets in the second quickly, but a seventh wicket partnership of 110 gave us a challenging lead. Still, never count your chickens. They started their second with a 77 opening partnership, but then six wickets fell for 41. They recovered a little but it was just delaying the inevitable. So an excellent performance and a comfortable 164 run win.

It's only a two match series but I'll expect them to come back hard at us.

[khw]

So the second test went exactly as expected, a heavy defeat by 185 runs to leave the series all square at 1-1. The only change was to leave out Masakadza, who at 34, isn't going to be a long term bet. In came Sikandar Raza, who also offered a bit of off spin if needed.

Sri Lanka won the toss and batted first.

Sri Lanka 355 (Shanaka 99, Mathews 83, Mufudza 5-113, Chatara 3-89)

Zimbabwe: 213 (Raza 53, Madziva 28no, Sandakan 6-92, Chameera 2-20)

Sri Lanka 312 (Gunaratne 95, Mathews 87, Chatara 3-57, Mufudza 3-132)

Zimbabwe 269 (Williams 81, Mufudza 56, Herath 4-91, Sandakan 3-100)

In the first dig, Sri Lanka were wobbling at 81-4 before a strong middle order recovery got them up to an above par score. The bowlers were economical without being especially penetrative but their effort could not be faulted. Our top order was as poor as theirs as we reached 87-5 before Raza and a few lower order contributions at least made it respectable, although we were still a long way behind. Again, we took early wickets but the Gunaratne-Mathews fifth wicket partnership of 120 gave them the ascendancy once more. By some amazing symmetry, we were 87-5 again second time round. The brittleness of our batting looks a serious concern going forward with the opening partnership an experiment that clearly failed. Finding one decent opener in domestic cricket, let alone two, looks the biggest issue ahead. Williams and some late order slogging by Mufudza ensured it wasn't a complete humiliation. Still, we'd have taken a drawn series at the start and there were some encouraging signs. Moor kept wicket and was the biggest run scorer. Williams, the captain, looks our strongest bat. Madziva made some excellent all round contributions and the other bowlers all chipped in.

Series Averages

P Moor 228 runs @ 57
S Williams 204 runs @ 51, 2 wickets @ 30
Madziva 110 runs @ 36.67, 5 wickets @ 32.4
Raza 63 runs @ 31.5
Burl 84 runs @ 21
Ervine 82 runs @ 20.5
Mufudza 81 runs @ 20.25, 12 wickets @ 32.83
Kasuza 62 runs @ 15.5
Maunze 43 runs @ 10.75
Masakadza 18 runs @ 9
Mumba 10 runs @ 5, 9 wickets @ 22.78
Chatara 12 runs @ 4, 11 wickets @ 20.73

[khw]

Have to admit, even though I play the full captaincy mode, I never actually captain the shorter forms. I just use them to try new players out or rest those I don't want injured for Tests and generate those games. I've always found captaining the shorter forms really frustrating and hardly ever won any matches.

Our next Test series is home to the West Indies, so potentially a chance to carry on from the Sri Lanka series and give a fairly average West Indies a really competitive series.

Selection was the first issue. Raza and Ervine were both injured and Masuza and Maunze has done nothing to suggest they should be retained. So with limited batting options, the only choice was to take a few punts. First, a completely new opening partnership. Kaitano has only played 11 FC games but is averaging 32, and whilst there isn't another genuine opener worthy of selection, Mire does the job in the shorter forms. Burl was retained at three and Williams slotted in at four. Chirimuuta was another new pick at five (FC average of 33), whilst Moor was moved up one to six to allow us five bowling options. Madziva was moved up to seven, whilst Luke Jongwe was brought in at eight (FC average batting of 27, bowling of 25). Mufudza, Mumba and Chatara were also retained.

First Test - West Indies won the toss and batted first in good conditions.

West Indies 258 (Dowrich 53, Powell 52, Mufudza 4-42, Madziva 2-41)

Zimbabwe 252 (Mire 55, Burl 43, Taylor 5-57, Chase 2-21)

West Indies 232 (Dowrich 84, Roach 28no, Mumba 4-42, Madziva 3-44)

Zimbabwe 239-6 (Moor 77no, Burl 41, Roach 4-65, Cummins 1-51)

Phew, this was a close, close Test that see-sawed throughout and there were many times in the second dig when I thought we'd fluffed it. First innings, West Indies were 164-2 and threatening a big score but Mufudza put the breaks on things by running through their middle order, whilst Madziva kept it tight and made two vital contributions. We started well, reaching 148-2 but then a middle order collapse put us under serious pressure. A 47 run eight wicket partnership between Jongwe and Mufudza more or less made things all square. In the second innings, we took regular winnings, not allowing them to build partnerships and when they were 125-6 we thought we'd have a relatively low target to chase. Dowrich, batting at three, was hard to shift and Roach's 28no was vital for them. Chasing 239, we lost Kaitano early but Mire and Burl again developed a fine partnership. Then a couple of quick wickets made it 93-4 and we started fearing the worst. Enter Peter Moor. What a superb find he's been, top scoring in the Sri Lankan series, now anchoring this chase. Madziva and Jongwe kept him company as we eventually reached the target for a win that looked more comfortable than it was.

Another two Test series. Barring injuries, it's likely we'll go in with the same side. Hopefully one of the guys who missed out with the bat first time round can step up.

[khw]

Series done and dusted against the West Indies and wouldn't you know, a dramatic home win to set up a 2-0 series victory!!! Now this was a strange game.

West Indies won the toss on a decent pitch and decided to bat first. Madziva saw off Powell early but then Brathwaite and Dowrich (again!!!) put together a partnership of 163 for the second wicket. But here's the thing. They batted so slowly that by the time the second new ball was taken, they were on 140 or so. From our point of view, this was OK since we were content with the draw. Once Mumba despatched Brathwaite, wickets steadily fell and the West Indies failed to profit from that big partnership. 350 all out was more than satisfactory for us. The four quicks bowled with excellent economy. Only the offie, Mufudza, leaked more than three an over but he still took four wickets.

Taylor and Roach saw off the openers, but Burl and Williams put combined for 169 for the third wicket, the best single partnership of my coaching career! Burl and Chirimuuta when added another 88, but once Burl went, it turned into a fairly embarrassing procession . The last five wickets added just 12 runs as Taylor and Roach ran through the tail, who had no answers. Unfortunately Moor hadn't got set by the time he tried to farm the strike and played a big shot too many. 328 meant we went in not too far behind, but at one stage we would've been thinking of a lead of at least 50.

So much time had been taken out of the game by both sides' reluctance to score quickly. We were into day four by the time West Indies started their second dig. Knowing the onus was on the West Indies to go on the attack and set a target that would give them time to bowl us out, we were content to go on the defensive a bit and just concentrate on stemming the flow of runs. No batsman was able to get away; even Samuels' 67 took up the best part of 200 balls. When they attacked, it invariably led to a wicket. Bowled out for 192, they ate up 100 overs. This left us around two and a half sessions to either block it out and take a 1-0 series win or aim for the win that would give us an astonishing clean sweep. However, there would be the risk of losing the Test and sharing the series spoils. One thing in our favour was the injury sustained by Kemar Roach when batting in the second innings.

We began slowly, just trying to get through what remained of the first session unscathed. The openers then picked up the pace but both fell with the score on 77 and Williams followed shortly after. With three results still possible, the young Ryan Burl took matters into his own hands, forging another strong partnership with Chirimuuta. Burl went on the attack, whilst Chirimuuta dropped anchor. When the latter fell, we still had enough time to win the game and Moor felt confident enough to swing a few hefty blows to get us over the line for a 2-0 victory.

West Indies 350 (Dowrich 102, Brathwaite 86, Madziva 4-54, Mufudza 4-115)

Zimbabwe 328 (Burl 120, Williams 80, Taylor 5-71, Roach 3-107)

West Indies 192 (Samuels 67, Blackwood 35, Madziva 3-46, Jongwe 2-32)

Zimbabwe 216-4 (Burl 71no, Kaitano 40, Gabriel 3-48)

Series Averages

Burl 275 @ 91.67
Moor 130 @ 65
Williams 130 @ 32.5
Jongwe 64 @ 32 and 7 wickets @ 27
Kaitano 112 @ 28
Chirimuuta 108 @ 27
Mire 95 @ 23.75
Mufudza 29 @ 14.5 and 8 wickets @ 27.75
Madziva 20 @ 6.67 and 12 wickets @ 15.42
Chatara 5 @ 5 and 3 wickets @ 64.33
Mumba 6 @ 3 and 9 wickets @ 19.56

Madziva, Chatara and Mumba had economy rates of well under 2 (Mumba's was 1.42!)

This series means we rise one place in the Test rankings to 9th, leaping above Bangladesh. Ryan Burl is currently 15th in the batting rankings, whilst Madziva and Mumba are joint 16th in the bowling rankings.

[khw]

Our first series of the 18-19 season was a two Test home series to Australia. Home series against Sri Lanka and West Indies have exceeded expectations but these were always potentially winnable. If we performed well in a series against Australia, well then we could say that we really had made progress. And Australia were not going easy on us and sent their first string side with the usual big names.

Kaitano's poor domestic form meant he was left out and replaced by Musakanda, a young opener of some potential. Chirimuuta was unfortunate to be left out for Raza, but there was always a chance that against a strong Australian batting lineup that his off spin might be needed to get through a few overs. Otherwise this was the same side that performed so well in the second Test against the West Indies.

Australia won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first on a easy looking strip. Warner naturally took the aggressive approach but it was the more circumspect Renshaw that fell first for 22. A strong burst just before lunch saw off Warner and Smith, both bowled by Madziva and Jongwe respectively. When Handscomb fell just after lunch, we could have been forgiven for thinking we could bowl Australia out on the first day! Cartwright and Khawaja had other ideas and punished the drop in performance, scoring at an excellent lick. Together they put on 241, taking the game away from us. Khawaja tried to marshal the tail, which fortunately didn't wag, but 470 was still an incredibly imposing score.

And so it proved as Hazlewood and Mennie ripped through the top order, leaving us at 23-4. Burl and Moor repaired the damage a little, putting on 63 together, then Madziva, Jongwe and Mufudza all made twenties to bring the score up to 217, which left us well behind the follow-on target, but at one point it looked as though we might've been bowled out for single figures.

Smith didn't think twice and asked us to bat again, perhaps sensing an extra day or two off for his bowlers. The top order made up for their callowness in the first innings and buckled down. Mire lead from the front, taking the attack to the Australian bowlers, bringing up a half century in as many balls. Musakanda dropped anchor, making 20 in a first wicket partnership worth 72. Mire and Burl put on another 82 and by the time that Mire was the third man out on 190, he'd made a rapid 124 and was particularly severe on Mitchell Starc. Williams and Raza both made opportune interventions and when the fifth wicket fell on 297, we might've thought about what kind of target we might set. But the Australians smelt blood as soon as the all rounders came to the crease and Starc's pace was too hot for them to handle. He took four of the last five wickets to fall, which only added 42 runs.

Australia didn't hang around with their chase. We switched bowlers regularly, hoping to inflict some damage on a few egos but it wasn't to be and Warner and Renshaw knocked off the required runs with ease. This wasn't a Test or a series we expected much from and even though we looked like we'd be hammered within three days, at least the lads showed some application and made a better fist of things in the second innings. The top order showed they can score at the highest attack, but the bowling looks worryingly tame against better batsmen.

Australia 470 (Khawaja 193, Cartwright 134, Madziva 3-105, Jongwe 2-80)

Zimbabwe 217 (Burl 59, Moor 44, Mennie 3-33, Lyon 3-70)

Zimbabwe f/o 339 (Mire 124, Williams 62, Starc 5-76, Hazlewood 2-82)

Australia 87-0

[khw]

The second Test saw one change. Chatara had bowled poorly in the first Test and had a poor series against the West Indies and was left out for Muzarawetu, who had been the most prolific pace bowler in the domestic season last year. Although his pace is only medium, it was believed that he'd offer control whilst the quicker bowlers went on the attack looking for wickets.

Again, Australia won the toss and elected to bat. Renshaw once more made a start but was dismissed by Jongwe on 22. Warner and Smith missed out last time but cashed in big time; Warner made 108 whilst Smith made 82. Handscomb also accepted the opportunity to plump up his batting average and raced to 83 before becoming Jongwe's second victim. At 350-6 we thought we could restrict them to a respectable scoreline. Mitchell Starc had other ideas. With support from Zampa and Hazlewood, the quickie smashed the tired bowlers to all parts. The last four wickets put on almost 200 between them. Australia finished on 548 and thanks to the lower order, the top order were expecting to only bat the once in the Test.

The response was undermined when the openers, Mire and Musakanda, had their stumps demolished by rapid yorkers from Starc. Burl and Williams tried to seize the initiative back, but once Burl was removed by Starc, edging to slip, Williams was the sole resistance. Only Jongwe reached double figures thereafter but at least it allowed Williams to make a richly deserved hundred, runs he'd promised but hadn't quite made in the last international season. Being bowled out for 200 left us with a mountain to climb. Smith, keen to keep the Aussie's foot on our throats, immediately inserted us back in.

Any hope at respectability relied on top order runs and Musakanda, in his second Test, duly obliged. Arguably one of the finest innings by a Zimbabwean batsman, he scored a run a ball hundred against the best pace duo in world cricket. Burl almost matched him but Hazlewood forced him to nick off to Smith in the slips on 79. Unfortunately these were the last meaningful contributions. Even though Starc had been hit out of the attack, Hazlewood had one of those days where you could take a wicket with every ball and he picked the batsmen off at will. From 195-2, the batting crumbled to 282 all out, giving Australia a richly deserved innings and 66 run win.

Australia 548 (Starc 110, Warner 108, Madziva 3-119, Mumba 2-96)

Zimbabwe 200 (Williams 106, Burl 33, Starc 6-47, Hazlewood 3-69)

Zimbabwe f/o 282 (Musakanda 107, Burl 79, Hazlewood 7-82, Zampa 1-25)


Series Averages

Burl 199 @ 49.75
Williams 190 @ 47.5
Musakanda 146 @ 36.5
Mire 144 @ 36
Moor 84 @ 28
Madziva 75 @ 18.75 and 6 wickets @ 40.5
Chatara 15 @ 15 and 1 wicket @ 88
Raza 52 @ 13
Jongwe 50 @ 12.5 and 4 wickets @ 49.75
Mufudza 35 @ 11.67 and 4 wickets @ 52.5
Mumba 16 @ 5.33 and 4 wickets @ 52.25
Muzarawetu 0 @ 0 and 1 wicket @ 117

So some positives at least. The batsmen hit three centuries between them and Burl, the top run scorer, wasn't even one of them! His consistency was incredibly pleasing. Raza, brought in to add experience and bowling options, flopped and will have to score a hatful of runs in the domestic game before we even think of a recall. The bowling was incredibly toothless but a strong Aussie batting lineup will flay better bowlers than these. Still, they performed against Sri Lanka and West Indies so shouldn't be written off so quickly.

[Joe Baldwin]

Really enjoy reading these, love playing as Zimbabwe!

[khw]

Really enjoy reading these, love playing as Zimbabwe!

Cheers It's going well so far, which makes it fun. Being on the wrong end of a pasting series after series might have an impact on motivation though!

It's great to see so many young guys taking over from the veterans and really making a name for themselves. Ryan Burl looks a serious talent. I reckon we've around four batsmen I'd be confident with taking the side forward over the next few seasons and we've bowling options aplenty, even if they're unlikely to trouble the top sides. Still, there's signs of progress I reckon.

[Joe Baldwin]

Cheers It's going well so far, which makes it fun. Being on the wrong end of a pasting series after series might have an impact on motivation though!

It's great to see so many young guys taking over from the veterans and really making a name for themselves. Ryan Burl looks a serious talent. I reckon we've around four batsmen I'd be confident with taking the side forward over the next few seasons and we've bowling options aplenty, even if they're unlikely to trouble the top sides. Still, there's signs of progress I reckon.

Being on the wrong end of a pasting series after series will make any victories taste all that much sweeter though Burl looks an excellent player - as you said at the start, the batsmen all have low first class averages and the bowlers have excellent ones, so having a player like Burl is a massive boost. It'll be interesting to see if he can reach high up the batting world rankings!

[khw]

After the Australia series, we entered the qualification stage for the T20 World Cup and were drawn against Hong Kong, Kenya and the Netherlands. Easy wins against the first two sides meant a winner takes all scenario with the Netherlands, but we were humbled by a side featuring a number of players plying their trade in the English game, falling to a 34 run defeat.

Following this disappointment, we left for a two match series in Bangladesh, our first venture abroad for some time. A fifteen man squad was taken, with new faces including the wonderfully monikered Phoenix Richardson, a young all-rounder in his first domestic season, Nathan Waller, who could offer an alternative to Madziva and Jongwe in the late order batting/third seamer role, and two new spinners, Wellington Masazkadza and Brandon Mavuta, who'd come off the back of an excellent domestic season.

The first Test saw us win the toss and bat, with the intention of getting runs on the board and exerting pressure. Musakanda fell early to Mushfiqur 'The Fiz' Rahman, and although Mire and Burl rebuilt, they were both dismissed within minutes of each other and the recalled Craig Ervine was then dismissed cheaply, leaving us at 117-4. Williams and Moor then put on 114 together, and when Williams eventually had his stumps uprooted by 'The Fiz', Madziva offered Moor company whilst he passed his half century. When Moor was dismissed for 77, Rahman licked his lips at the sight of the Zimbabwe tail and took some cheap wickets. 319 seemed distinctly under par.

Bangladesh reinforced that point, with four of the top five (Iqbal, Hossain and Rahim, Haque) making half centuries and even then Sarkar managed 40. At 321-3 at one point, it would have been easy for heads to fall, but the bowlers stuck to their task and were rewarded with regular wickets in the late order. Shakib made a half century but wasn't given much assistance and Mavuta, on debut, took an expensive five-for, as Bangladesh closed on 487.

To get back into this, we'd need a good start, but those hopes were dashed when Mire and Burl were both dismissed by the new ball. Musakanda and Williams then dragged us back into with a 176 run partnership, but Musakanda was cruelly robbed of an excellent hundred, when on 96, a leading edge lobbed 'The Fiz' an easy caught and bowled. Williams completed his century but there were no further contributions thereafter as the Bangladesh spinners picked off the late order with some ease. 310 was less than it should have been and at one point, we might have been thinking of setting Bangladesh a tricky 250+ chase. Instead, it was a simple chase of 143 for the loss of just two wickets

Zimbabwe 319 (Moor 77, Williams 52, Rahman 6-65, M Hossain (2) 2-51)

Bangladesh 487 (M Hossain (1) 110, Haque 78, Mavuta 5-156, Masakadza 3-133)

Zimbabwe 310 (Williams 129, Musakanda 96, Islam 4-92, J Hossain 3-87)

Bangladesh 143-2 (Sarkar 59, Iqbal 42, Mumba 1-15, Masakadza 1-42)

[khw]

After a disappointing defeat, we had a chance to finish with a share of the spoils at least. Out went Ervine, in came Phoenix Richardson. Jongwe was replaced by Mufudza, the intention being to let the spinners take the bulk of the overs and the two main quicks, Madziva and Mumba to rotate from the other end.

On what looked like an absolute road, Bangladesh won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first, looking to rack up an imposing score. It started promisingly as Mumba induced Iqbal to nick behind to Moor and Bangladesh's progress was also held up when Mossadek Hossain was lbw to Masakadza playing across the line. But then Bangladesh's top order turned the tables. Sarkar ,Haque and Shakib made centuries, whilst Rahim made 90. In fact, had it not been for a quick clearing up of the tail, Bangladesh could have scored significantly more than 543. Madziva and Mumba bowled admirably, but the three spinners proved exceptionally disappointing, unable to maintain any control.

In reply we started poorly and slipped to 60-3, with Masakanda, Mire and Burl all victims to the prolific Rahman. Then came a rally; Richardson, Moor and Madziva made fifties but none were able to kick on. And then came a familiar tale, with the tail failing to contribute as the Bangladesh spinners ran amok. Having failed to avoid the follow on target, we were duly sent back into bat. Our chances of saving the match were slim, but would require serious application and some help from the weather, which was anticipated to affect the final day.

Mire and Burl, usually reliable members of the top order, failed once more, but Musakanda made an enterprising 44, whilst Williams made a run a ball 68, and Richardson made his second fifty on debut. But even more impressive was Peter Moor, who went on the offensive, especially in a sixth wicket partnership of 108 with Madziva. Eyeing a ton, and with Sarkar bowling some filth prior to the new ball, Moor lost his shape and played across a straight one, just one shy of what would have been a brilliant counterattacking hundred. Going into the fifth day we'd just about moved ahead and then the predicted rain fell, washing out most of the final two sessions. It wasn't a draw we deserved but it was one we certainly took.

Bangladesh 543 (Shakib 133*, Haque 117, Mumba 3-75, Madziva 3-89)

Zimbabwe 298 (Richardson 74, Moor 67, Rahman 6-55, Islam 3-95)

Zimbabwe 340 (Moor 99, Williams 68, Rahman 4-66, M Hossain (2) 2-82)

Series Averages

Richardson 134 @ 67
Williams 266 @ 66.5
Moor 251 @ 62.75
Madziva 121 @ 40.33 and 3 wickets @ 61
Musakanda 158 @ 39.5
Mire 87 @ 21.75
Burl 85 @ 21.25
Mavuta 40 @ 13.3 and 5 wickets @ 58.8
Jongwe 10 @ 10 and 0 wickets for 70
Mufudza 9 @ 9 and 3 wickets @ 42
Masakadza 32 @ 8 and 5 wickets @ 63.4
Mumba 21 @ 7 and 6 wickets @ 24.5
Ervine 9 @ 4.5

Overall, a disappointing series that returns us to the bottom of the Test rankings. A few positives with the bat. Williams and Moor continued to look the part at international level, whilst Phoenix Richardson made a fantastic entrance to Test cricket. Only Carl Mumba looked penetrative with the ball, though Madziva kept things tight and contributed with the bat. The spinners were mainly poor and doesn't bode well for Asian tours of the future.

The next challenge is away to South Africa, which is a chastening as international cricket experiences get.

[khw]

South Africa picked a strong squad for the first Test of the series; their batsmen and bowlers viewing it as a good opportunity to improve their averages. In order to improve the batting, we brought in Charles Kunje to open the batting and dropped Solomon Mire down to three. We chose to go in with the four bowlers, rather than five. We knew it would be tough to bowl South Africa out twice as it is, but knowing that Peter Moor would come in at seven rather than an all rounder was reassuring. Plus, Richardson and Williams could offer some fill-in overs.

On a warm, cloudless morning, we chose to bat after winning the toss. Kunje, the debutant, soon had his off pole taken out by Philander. Mire, whose form had dipped considerably, also made a single figure score. Musakanda and Burl rebuilt, but when Musakanda fell for 40, he was quickly followed by Williams for a duck. 74-4 looked ominous. The middle order dug in to support Burl, and Richardson, Moor, Madziva and Mufudza all scored between 28-40 each, so the scoreboard continued to tick over. Finally bowled out for 300 exactly, it represented a reasonable score, though not one that the South Africans wouldn't hope to exceed - still, it could've been much worse given the poor start.

Markram and Hendricks started well, putting on 77, and when both openers and De Kock (at three) fell with the score on 156, we'd started to fight back well. Enter De Villiers (at four) and Amla (at five) to seize the initiative back. When Amla fell, South Africa had passed our score - Du Plessis then came in and added salt to the wounds, scoring a hundred of his own, to support De Villiers' 189. Madziva took some cheap wickets at the back end of the innings, but South Africa finally declared on 504-7.

Kunje and Musakanda went on the attack, being particularly severe on the pace of Steyn, putting on 93 for the first wicket. Then a quite astonishing collapse as five wickets fell for 15, including ducks for both Mire and Burl. Moor joined Kunje at the crease and made a valiant fifty to ensure than Kunje could reach his ton. Once Moor was bowled by Ngidi, the tail folded, but at least Kunje carried his bat. We were all out for 256, leaving a chase of 53, which South Africa knocked off without losing a wicket.


Zimbabwe 300(Burl 81, Musakanda 40, Philander 3-86, Steyn 3-107)

South Africa 504-7d(De Villiers 189, Du Plessis 101no, Mufudza 3-179, Madziva 2-95)

Zimbabwe 256 (Kunje 110no, Moor 51, Ngidi 4-24, Maharaj 4-63)

South Africa 53-0 (Markram 29no, Hendricks 23no)

[khw]

For the second Test, we left out Solomon Mire and brought in Nathan Waller, all rounder to bat at eight and offer some fast-medium bowling. South Africa won the toss and batted first, with the top seven all eager to fill their boots. Hendricks missed out though, Mumba taking a short caught and bowled for 6. Markram and De Kock however set about punishing the bowling. Markram made 166, whilst De Kock cruelly missed out on a double hundred, falling two short. De Villiers, Amla and Du Plessis surprisingly failed with the bat, but Bavuma, coming in at seven, scored 141 as the bowlers wilted. Waller finished with three in his debut bowling innings but South Africa declared on an imposing 601-8.

To our credit, we didn't flunk the challenge they set us. Kunje and Musakanda enjoyed another strong opening partnership, only ended when Kunje was deceived by Maharaj. Burl, back to three, made a hard-working half century. Strong contributions continued, with Moor making 55, Madziva adding 39 and Waller hammering 72. Musakanda made a huge 145 though as we were eventually bowled out for an impressive 504 - perhaps even more important was batting out 180+ overs against a strong bowling attack.

By this point, we'd reached the end of day four, which left the draw the most likely outcome of this Test, barring a rapid bat and declaration the next morning. Bowling with defensive fields, South Africa struggled to get away and although wickets were in short supply, South Africa could only score at 3.5 per over - they declared on 161-1, leaving around 45 overs to see out for an impressive draw. Kunje and Musakanda came out with little intent to chase that target, their intention to blunt and demoralise the bowling. Boundaries were accepted when rarely presented, but stoic defence was the order of the day and the captains finally shook hands at 86-0 with no positive result viable.

South Africa 601-8d (De Kock 198, Bavuma 141no, Waller 3-111, Madziva 2-104)

Zimbabwe 504 (Musakanda 145, Waller 72, Maharaj 3-78, Ngidi 3-106)

South Africa 161-1d (Hendricks 71no, De Kock 44no, Waller 1-31)

Zimbabwe 86-0 Kunje 47no, Musakanda 36no)

[khw]

Ah, I've worked out how to do uploads, this makes things easier

Superb debut series by Kunje and Musakanda wasn't bad either. Fingers crossed but we could have a very promising opening partnership developing here. Burl and Moor also made good contributions, as usual, but Williams disappointed with the bat, given that he's one of our senior players. Mire will probably benefit from a break.

The bowling was nothing to write home about though. Waller did well on debut with the ball (and made a half century) and Madziva kept things tight, but otherwise, there was a real lack of penetration.

On the rankings front, we've two batsmen in the top twenty - Moor (16) and Musakanda (18). Our top bowler, Carl Mumba, is at 29.

[UTBash]

Hey man, enjoying the story! Seems your bowlers are struggling for wickets but the batsmen are doing decent!

With regard to the uploads you can embed the photo into the post after you've attached it to the post by clicking "small" "large" "fullsize" etc next to the attachment when you're posting