2nd ODI | Zimbabwe v Ireland | 21st Jan 2023

[tej_27]

If everyone is available next game
Ervine replaces marumani and mavuta replaces nyuchi .
Chamu opens

[Googly]

Obviously Madande deserves a fair crack of the whip, but I remain convinced that Marumani would be better. Look, if Maru eventually makes the grade as an opener then that's perhaps a different conversation. We will see that Maru is not tight enuf to open. He thrashes at back of a length balls on 4th and he will struggle. I think he may miss out next game which is tough on him.
They need to persevere with Maru, but where in the order?

Who will keep in the tests? Presumably Clive?

These are good problems we have. Finally some real competition for spots.

[Donald]

Ervine has to get the magic spray on his little pinkie or we are in trouble monday.
Mavuta needs to come in for Nyauchi.

Looks like we are going in with dad's army for the qualifiers both in ODI and 20/20. Chibhabha should probably open with Kaia

[tej_27]

Ervine has to get the magic spray on his little pinkie or we are in trouble monday.
Mavuta needs to come in for Nyauchi.

Looks like we are going in with dad's army for the qualifiers both in ODI and 20/20. Chibhabha should probably open with Kaia

And problem with dad's army is one niggle here and there and youre out for weeks

[mnelson68]

The biggest problem is the bowling , too many extras from the seamers . That's what actually cost them the game in the end. Very very poor

[Kriterion_BD]

The biggest problem is the bowling , too many extras from the seamers . That's what actually cost them the game in the end. Very very poor

The bowling has been innocuous apart from the waywardness of the 2nd ODI. You won’t always be able to get wickets in all conditions but you have to bowl dot balls. Granted these Irish batters are better than the guys of yesteryear.

[jaybro]

We bowled them 54 overs. That's where we lost it today.

Yea what a shit show that was with the ball, Nyauchi started every over with a wide, I’m not even joking he actually did.

The difference at the moment is the bowlers. Little and McBrine are really good. We miss Blessing.. how long is he out for? Not having Ervine and Williams also affected us badly.

Our guys couldn’t play Little, once again that little bit of extra pace and they’re shot ducks. It’s an age old problem for Zimbabwe that they can’t produce quick bowlers and in turn their batsman aren’t used to facing quick bowlers.

Looking at Ballance today I think it's a fair conclusion to say he should bat in the top 3. Either Ervine or Ballance opens with Kaia. It's pretty straightforward. The more time those 2 have on the crease, the better. Ballance is an upgrade of Ervine. He rarely looked troubled but acceleration is another thing. He is world class.

I really liked how Ballance played that accumulating role with zero risks (something BT & Willo could never do at No.4) BUT he needed to find that extra gear at the end and he just didn’t have it in him.

It’s still early days for Ballance, but I still can’t help but think that a guy who was exposed to so much quality fast bowling in England & for England would not be better served for Zimbabwe negotiating the new ball.

Once Ervine & Williams are available, it makes sense for Ballance to open with Kaia, leave those other two guys in their preferred spots and also Raza & Burl at their preferred spots too.

It is really problematic that we have three No. 11s at the end of the order. We really need our bowlers to be able to hit as well as Jongwe at a minimum.

110%

We can’t afford to have Ngarava at No.9 it makes the tail too long. IMO it’s a two of Ngarava/ Blessing/ Chatara at 10 & 11 with two of Evans/ Jongwe/ Mavuta/ Wellington at 8 & 9.

I know he’s quite skilful but for my Nyauchi isn’t an ODI bowler, he’s way too wayward and he’s really only in the game when the ball is new and swinging. Once the ball stops swinging he’s just an inconsistent medium pacer, and with a different ball at either end, there’s no reverse swing in ODI cricket anymore.

[Yorker]

Burl finally looks the part... we need to work on our batting order. I think at full strength Burl can bat higher than Raza if you really think about it. This version of Raza is a finisher

[sam_ahm]

Marumani's selection cannot be justified now, got to stick with Madande, but I'm not very sure if Madande is a good player to have at 7. He is not a natural striker and may do better batting high up. The two players capable of batting low are Burl and Raza. This however would mean less balls to face for Burl and Raza which again is not good. So I don't know, basically Madande plays a specialist keeper who can bat at No. 8 and do whatever best from there.

Once Williams is back, either Chamu goes out or a better option is to drop that extra bowler because Williams provides that bowling option anyways. Obviously only one of Evans or Chatara can play. I would suggest rotating all the 4 fast bowlers Chatara, Evans, Blessing and Ngarava just to keep all of them in the frame. May be Nyauchi as well.

[Kriterion_BD]

As has been pointed out the game was lost with all the wides being dished up. It was amateur hour. When you are bowling at 125-130 like Nyauchi and Evans, you can't be bowling that many wides.

Anyways, its be an exellent series. Very close fought. I believe the head to head ODI is once again tied at 8-8 now.