T20I WC what would you have changed (given the available resources)

[secretzimbo]

1.kaia he is comfortable against pace bowling
2.craig
3.williams

Jeez. Guaranteed to be about 15-0 from the powerplay.

Take that over 30 for 3 tbh. Least they see off the good bowlers.

We are talking T20's, not ODIs or Test cricket.

Our mindset is so wrong.

[slcricfan1]

Jeez. Guaranteed to be about 15-0 from the powerplay.

Take that over 30 for 3 tbh. Least they see off the good bowlers.

We are talking T20's, not ODIs or Test cricket.

Our mindset is so wrong.

Yeah I know. My expectations have been lowered but I look around this comp and teams have been constantly wrecked at the start. If Zimbabwe could somehow get around the wreckage at the start, I feel opposing captains would bring in part-timers or spinners and with wickets in hand, the team could eke out 150 instead of the usual 120. Obviously not 15-0 though. I was exaggerating there

[secretzimbo]

Take that over 30 for 3 tbh. Least they see off the good bowlers.

We are talking T20's, not ODIs or Test cricket.

Our mindset is so wrong.

Yeah I know. My expectations have been lowered but I look around this comp and teams have been constantly wrecked at the start. If Zimbabwe could somehow get around the wreckage at the start, I feel opposing captains would bring in part-timers or spinners and with wickets in hand, the team could eke out 150 instead of the usual 120. Obviously not 15-0 though. I was exaggerating there

Eking out 150 as opposed to 120 would have served us well in this tournament. Our games have been relatively low-scoring, as has most of the tournament.

Most bilaterals and future world cups in most conditions though, we need to build a team capable of getting 180+ as opposed to 150 or below.

[sam_ahm]

Agree with Crimson on most points.

1) Apart from Marumani, I'd have picked Kaia in my team as well and opened with Marumani and Kaia with Jongwe, depending on the situation, coming in at 3 or at times at 8. This actually means there was no place for Ervine in my T20 team unless Jongwe fails miserably and I replace him with Ervine.

2) I would not have played Chatara at all and gone in with Blessing, Ngarava and Evans + Jongwe and the spin allrounders. Basically what I'm saying is that I'd have gone with both Evans and Jongwe in my main line up. This gives me batting till No. 9

3) I would have used Burl a little more as a bowler in middle overs. Like how Pakistan are using Shadab. Leg spinners can get smacked but can give you loads of wickets as well at times.

4) Change the approach, not everyone looks to smack every ball... Play the situation. I know Dave has been hugely successful with his attacking approach but I think we over did it in this competition.

[secretzimbo]

Agree with Crimson on most points.

1) Apart from Marumani, I'd have picked Kaia in my team as well and opened with Marumani and Kaia with Jongwe, depending on the situation, coming in at 3 or at times at 8. This actually means there was no place for Ervine in my T20 team unless Jongwe fails miserably and I replace him with Ervine.

Really?! Ervine has been poor, but really?!?! Kaia is a slower scorer than Ervine and an inferior player with less experience.
I wouldn't have Ervine in my T20 side going forward but Kaia offers absolutely nothing different/better than Craig in this format.

4) Change the approach, not everyone looks to smack every ball... Play the situation. I know Dave has been hugely successful with his attacking approach but I think we over did it in this competition.

It's the right approach, but the wrong players.
Square pegs, round holes.

[jaybro]

Good thread and some good ideas, here are my thoughts

Batting

All of our problems start from the start, we never got a good start & apart from a few breezy starts from Wes & that 60 odd from Ervine, there was nothing else to show from the power plays.

I think Dave had the right idea going with Regis & Ervine, and although we chuck up other names I doubt many could/ would do better. Looking at the tournament as a whole, a lot of world class openers have struggled such as Warner, Babar, Rizwan, Rahul etc.

So would a Marumani or even a Zhuwao type player had any success going hard at the start? I don’t think so. So do we look a more traditional type opener like a Kaia or even Kaitano? Personally I think Kaia is a good player, but it’s boundary or block for him. Kaitano on the other hand is much better at rotating strike from what I’ve seen of him.

Williams at 3 is a good call with Raza at 4 I think would be the best way to go. When you think about it Raza is easily the best player, but if the top order does it’s job he’s not going to get enough balls to face, so in reality we’re depending on the top order to fail to have him face the right amount of deliveries.

Maybe we could adopt a floating order type arrangement where if an early wicket falls we send someone like Regis up to no.3 but if we get a good start Williams & Raza come in next?

I do think we wasted one spot in the squad that being Manade. He was never going to play unless Regis got injured so ultimately it’s a waste. Having an alternative batting option might have been the difference, rather than keep rolling out Shumba who needs to get back home and scoring runs.

Bowling

I really don’t think we’ve done much wrong bowling wise, apart from the Bangladesh game where Ervine decided to bowl Chatara & Evan’s for a third over each. Leaving Blessing with just 2 overs bowled was a huge error.

Not bowling Burl throughout has been an odd decision, but looking back the last few months they do seem hesitant to bowl him in t20s compared to ODIs. Maybe they’re worried about him getting hit out of the park, compared to Williams & Raza who are very tidy.

Again this brings me back to Burl and his role in the side, if he isn’t bowling every game I think he needs to bat higher. He’s not a finisher because he struggles to hit genuine pace bowlers at the death, so he needs to bat higher imo and target the spinners in the middle overs.

[secretzimbo]

So do we look a more traditional type opener like a Kaia or even Kaitano?

[jaybro]

So do we look a more traditional type opener like a Kaia or even Kaitano?

Haha just throwing up ideas, the trailblazer opener hasn’t worked out well this tournament for any side really

[TapsC2]

You know what.. Kaitano in these conditions might not have been the worst idea. He is actually 1 of the few guys in the whole Zim setup who if he gets going can do really well against pace. He is worth a try. These conditions might have suited him

[Googly]

Kaitano looks a really good player, it amazes me that he doesn't make more runs.