Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka. 2nd ODI. 8th Jan 2024

[Pat_Bee]

Good thrilling game, few more runs on the board would have been nicebut wouldn’t chop anyone over it. Ervine rolling back the years. He’s still hungry for more.

Shady old Faraz needs to work on his fielding. Not convinced he’s any worse than Evans really though. He’s been out injured so long now he’s bound to have regressed. Genuine question, like what did even play year last year?! I’m coming up with nothing

[Pat_Bee]

If we had administrators we could shit can shitcanpatel

I recommend when brmt returns bombard him with the admin complaint and don’t let him dodge the topic like always

Sound as ruthless as the ZC suits old chetan is for worse than me

[andrea lanzoni]

Today the glass is half full.
I'm glad of the performance: very, very close to an unexpected win in Sri Lanka is something good.

My regret: Blessing and Ngarava are consistently blowling at over 80 mph.
I'm sure there could be many like them in grassroot Zimbabwe: give local kids bats and tapeballs. Some new unexpressed talents are only to be scouted.

[Pat_Bee]

Nah ngarava is sound, he doesn’t need mentioning today

Blessing needs to sort his life out with those no balls though and serving up a pie every over, releasing the pressure. Gone downhill him for all his promise.

Old ponsonby always scrapes through with just enough every game to avoid scrutiny. Plays what the situation calls for very well without ever excelling. Typical C student his school report used to say no doubt.

Would still rather have KLong coming in down the order and some old school openers seeing the power play out.


Don’t see why Jono proving himself in red ball should matter to his consideration. Skill is skill Warner got picked for the Australian test side off the back of his white ball game and it panned out reasonably ok for him.

[Pat_Bee]

Shumba was good today, should be pleased with himself.

[mnelson68]

As a fact if Gumbie keeps then Madande is taking up space.
You could bat Kaia, Madhevere, Kamunhukamwe or Welch Sr at 7, they are much better batsmen than Madande.
Then there's Bennett who also offers a bowling option and there's Welch Jr who's also probably better and undoubtedly has a higher ceiling and could keep if there was an injury.

But of course ZC will have a blind spot and persevere with him forever as a specialist no 7 and reserve keeper when there are far more accomplished batters.

You surprise me with this , no mention of Campbell ? He would be perfect at 7. Madande imo is a very good batsman and is good enough to hold.his own and I'd put him at 4 he has a better array of shots than shumba amd is a busy cricketer. No point playing KLong down the order either
Welch will be the best option to open when he gets his act together. Gumbie is a lock for mine , i also think Bennett is an ideal number 3 when Ervine retires. Williams sitting out as well atm so things aren't too bad.

[mnelson68]

And Kaitano

Wow that's harsh , he's so much better than Shumba and Kaitano

[mnelson68]

That's the other thing- a guy not doing well at 1,2 or 3 has a good chance of doing well at 7.
A guy being average at 7 has got zero and I mean zero chance of batting up the order. They ll try though.
They'll keep playing Madande until he gets a 50 and then he'll go to 5 or less and he WILL fail. They're dumbass is all.

You've lost the plot

[mnelson68]

You're getting worked up
In fairness you shouldn't be having to hide fielders, but Faraz and Bones are shite.

Precisely, if you can't field then you're a liability to the team.

[eugene]

Faraz Akram has done ok I guess, but once he is unhelpful conditions I think he will get slaughtered. He is too slow. I would ditch Mufudza for another batsman, we need to bat deep, at the moment we have 3 or 4 number 11s. Mitchell Starc would bat at 6 in our lineup.