Sports / Cricket
World Cup Match Preview: Zimbabwe vs Canada
22 Feb 2011 at 10:06hrs | Views
This match between Zimbabwe and Canada will be an engaging encounter with both teams looking to gain a significant advantage in terms of being the lead minnow in the Group A pushing the big guns for a place in the quarter-finals. They both come into this match on the back of a loss each at the hands of a big team, but where Canada fared miserably against Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe shocked some stomach for the fight, putting on a solid bowling performance against Australia. Their spinners in particular were outstanding, and looked capable of competiting with the best in the world. Canada on the other hand struggled with both bat and ball in the tournament opener, and they will need to play the way they did against England in the warm ups to be competitive in this match.
The game will be played at the Vidarbha Cricket Association ground in Nagpur, where the pitch, while re-layering was fitted with a 30 inch double brick layer to assist bounce and carry through to the keeper. Nagpur traditionally is a high scoring venue, and expect Monday's encounter to be no different. Scores in excess of 300 are par for the course, and with neither side boasting massive threats in the pace department, this could well turn out be an exciting contest with over 600 runs scored on the day.
The game will be played at the Vidarbha Cricket Association ground in Nagpur, where the pitch, while re-layering was fitted with a 30 inch double brick layer to assist bounce and carry through to the keeper. Nagpur traditionally is a high scoring venue, and expect Monday's encounter to be no different. Scores in excess of 300 are par for the course, and with neither side boasting massive threats in the pace department, this could well turn out be an exciting contest with over 600 runs scored on the day.
Zimbabwe:This team has been, by far, the most impressive amongst the minnows and they look to be playing to a plan. In their match against Australia, they opened the bowling with the left-arm spin of Ray Price and he led the pack well, ending with impressive figures of 10-1-43-1, albeit tarnished by an unfortunate last over. This time, their pace attack has to lead from the front and the bowling must be ably backed by a strong and responsible batting performance.
Their batting failed to live up to the work done by the bowling unit in the game against Australia, and in truth it was the bottom half of the side which scored a lion share of the runs. Brendan Taylor and Charles Coventry, their opening pair, should enjoy the considerable difference in pace between the Australian and Canadian pacemen, and it would not come as too much of a surprise should Coventry score another memorable ton. Skipper Elton Chigumbura too showed sparks of form during his brief stand with Sean Williams, and should he get stuck into the Canadian bowling, the ball can go a long way. The calm shown by Graeme Cremer with the bat was very encouraging, and perhaps merits a higher spot in the batting order.
Zimbabwe went into the game against Australia with an extra batsmen in Regis Chakabva, and the move didn't really work as their 5th bowler made up by the part-timers were taken to the cleaners. They could well bring in Shingirai Masakadza for this game and go in with 5 bowlers, especially given the form the lower order showed with the bat.
Their batting failed to live up to the work done by the bowling unit in the game against Australia, and in truth it was the bottom half of the side which scored a lion share of the runs. Brendan Taylor and Charles Coventry, their opening pair, should enjoy the considerable difference in pace between the Australian and Canadian pacemen, and it would not come as too much of a surprise should Coventry score another memorable ton. Skipper Elton Chigumbura too showed sparks of form during his brief stand with Sean Williams, and should he get stuck into the Canadian bowling, the ball can go a long way. The calm shown by Graeme Cremer with the bat was very encouraging, and perhaps merits a higher spot in the batting order.
Zimbabwe went into the game against Australia with an extra batsmen in Regis Chakabva, and the move didn't really work as their 5th bowler made up by the part-timers were taken to the cleaners. They could well bring in Shingirai Masakadza for this game and go in with 5 bowlers, especially given the form the lower order showed with the bat.
Canada:This team folded early chasing a mammoth target of 333 set by Sri Lanka and they need to show more heart than that if they are to beat Zimbabwe in Nagpur. If they can work out their bowling options in an effective manner, that is likely to translate into a cushion for the batsmen and might ease the pressure for players like John Davison, Rizwan Cheema, Zubin Surkaari and Ashish Bagai. Bagai needs to find that much needed confidence while Cheema must develop the ability to come good on his threats.
The opening combo pose a big problem for Canada and have not been able to give the team a decent start in recent times. John Davison really needs to battle his mental demons, break free and play like he did four years ago. The batting also needs to avoid over dependence on key players and they really need the team to come together as a unit and fire.
This bowling attack managed to create problems for England in the warm ups and also started well against Sri Lanka, before their fielding and catching in particular let them down. Osinde, one of the quickest bowlers in associate cricket, hopefully will sort out his injury issues and be fully fit to lead the Canadian attack. Khurram Chohan's ability to take wickets will come in handy for Canada and he will look to make the best use of the opportunity. Cheema with his part time medium pace can also be quite effective.
The opening combo pose a big problem for Canada and have not been able to give the team a decent start in recent times. John Davison really needs to battle his mental demons, break free and play like he did four years ago. The batting also needs to avoid over dependence on key players and they really need the team to come together as a unit and fire.
This bowling attack managed to create problems for England in the warm ups and also started well against Sri Lanka, before their fielding and catching in particular let them down. Osinde, one of the quickest bowlers in associate cricket, hopefully will sort out his injury issues and be fully fit to lead the Canadian attack. Khurram Chohan's ability to take wickets will come in handy for Canada and he will look to make the best use of the opportunity. Cheema with his part time medium pace can also be quite effective.
Source - Byo24News
