HARARE Former Zimbabwe cricket captain Heath Streak is satisfied with the progress the national team has made since he came on board as bowling coach and expressed confidence that the team would acquit itself well when it tours Bangladesh this week. (Pictured: Hamilton Masakadza)The team flies out of the country on Tuesday to try to tame the Tigers in five One Day International (ODI) matches between October 27 and November 4.
There is a lot of improvement and lots of promise with a big room of getting much better. We look forward to continue working hard and I hope the guys keep up their game so that we give Bangladesh a good run for their money, said Streak.
Zimbabwe meet Kenya for the 5th Croco Motors ODI match at Harare Sports Club today as part of their preparations for the tougher challenge against Bangladesh away from home.
Zimbabwes strength in recent years has been in their bowling attack which has often put up commendable performances. Their top order batting line-up has been their weakest link as it often crumbles rather too easily.
But an impressive show by opening batsmen such as the experienced Hamilton Masakadza and Stuart Matsikenyeri promised a light at the end of the tunnel last week against the visiting Kenya.
Masakadza scored a career best of 156 in the opening match while Matsikenyeri top-scored in the second match with an unbeaten 71.
Spin bowler Graeme Cremer claimed 6 wickets for just 46 runs, his career best figure.
Though impressed with the records, cricket fans are still worried about the limited number of international matches played by Zimbabwe and say scoring records achieved against the lowly ranked Kenyans cannot be regarded as a good measurement of the local game.
There is certainly light at the end of the tunnel, but the big question is whether it signals a bright future or a train coming the teams way.
National team coach Walter Chawaguta admitted to The Zimbabwean on Sunday that the performance against Kenya cannot be a reliable indicator of how his charges will fare in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is a much stronger side that can handle pressure well. We aim to beat Kenya and we need to do so convincingly knowing that Bangladesh is a better side, he said.
We have been doing our home work, our batsmen have not done well against spinners when we play Bangladesh because they have been conservative. They were worried much about losing wickets and we want them to be resilient on the crease and score a good total that will be defendable when we get on to field.
Post published in: Cricket