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South Africa, Zimbabwe clash
24 Oct 2022 at 01:09hrs | Views
ZIMBABWE and South Africa will face off for the first time since 2018 when they meet in an International Cricket Council Men's T20 World Cup Group 2 encounter at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart, Australia today.
The Chevrons, who booked their place in the Super 12 of the global showpiece after topping their group, will be hoping to pull a shock against their neighbours who are the favourites going into the match.
The last time Dave Houghton was Zimbabwe's coach at a World Cup was at the ODI edition in 1999. On that occasion Zimbabwe qualified for the second round and finished fifth, their best performance at a World Cup.
It included wins against South Africa and India in the first round and the Chevrons will be hoping to pull a similar performance in this year's edition as well.
Zimbabwe are fired up after marking their return to the World Cup with a victory over Ireland and Scotland in the group stages and just one defeat against the West Indies.
Sikandar Raza was the star for Zimbabwe in both wins, being voted player of the match in both and will be looking to continue his fine run against South Africa.
Zimbabwe will look up to Raza once again with his all-round exploits. The 36-year-old is the tournament's second leading run scorer with 136 runs, his best of 82 against Ireland being the highest score by a Zimbabwean batsman at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup and the third highest individual score in the tournament. Raza has also picked up five wickets with his off spin.
Tendai Chatara became Zimbabwe's leading wicket taker in the shortest format of the game with 51 wickets. The other seamers, Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava have also proved their worth with the ball.
South Africa are also confident having produced a splendid performance with both bat and ball in their warm up match against New Zealand which they won by nine wickets whilst their final clash with Bangladesh was washed out.
South Africa will be looking at in-form batter Rilee Roussow, David Miller, Quinton de Kock and their fast bowlers led by Kagiso Rabada to take them home.
Four days after the match against South Africa, Zimbabwe will play against Pakistan at the Perth Stadium in Perth.
On October 30, Zimbabwe clash with Bangladesh at the Gabba in Brisbane. Netherlands will be up next on November 2 before they play against India on November 6.
Zimbabwe might find the going tough against the likes of India, Pakistan, South Africa but they will certainly fancy their chances against Bangladesh and Netherlands whom they beat building up to the big tournament.
The Chevrons, who booked their place in the Super 12 of the global showpiece after topping their group, will be hoping to pull a shock against their neighbours who are the favourites going into the match.
The last time Dave Houghton was Zimbabwe's coach at a World Cup was at the ODI edition in 1999. On that occasion Zimbabwe qualified for the second round and finished fifth, their best performance at a World Cup.
It included wins against South Africa and India in the first round and the Chevrons will be hoping to pull a similar performance in this year's edition as well.
Zimbabwe are fired up after marking their return to the World Cup with a victory over Ireland and Scotland in the group stages and just one defeat against the West Indies.
Sikandar Raza was the star for Zimbabwe in both wins, being voted player of the match in both and will be looking to continue his fine run against South Africa.
Tendai Chatara became Zimbabwe's leading wicket taker in the shortest format of the game with 51 wickets. The other seamers, Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava have also proved their worth with the ball.
South Africa are also confident having produced a splendid performance with both bat and ball in their warm up match against New Zealand which they won by nine wickets whilst their final clash with Bangladesh was washed out.
South Africa will be looking at in-form batter Rilee Roussow, David Miller, Quinton de Kock and their fast bowlers led by Kagiso Rabada to take them home.
Four days after the match against South Africa, Zimbabwe will play against Pakistan at the Perth Stadium in Perth.
On October 30, Zimbabwe clash with Bangladesh at the Gabba in Brisbane. Netherlands will be up next on November 2 before they play against India on November 6.
Zimbabwe might find the going tough against the likes of India, Pakistan, South Africa but they will certainly fancy their chances against Bangladesh and Netherlands whom they beat building up to the big tournament.
Source - The Chronicle
