Second ODI

[sixes fan]

I like this Zim team:

1. Mire
2. Masakadza - Why he not opening. Tell him to open and give him free license.
3. Reza Always done well against Afghanistan
4. Williamson best Zim batter imo.
5. Burl looks very good. Ask him to be more aggressive. He looks very good to me.
6. Moor WK. He is not doing well opening.
7. Chigambura/Waller
8. Creamer
9. Chatara
10. MPofu
11. Ngarava

I am sure there are other bowling options as well.

Reza and Williamson are two best Zim batters and they contribute with very good spin bowling as well. Reza is very good fielder as well.

That was a great knock from Mire which was a perfect opportunity for PJ to get himself in. PJ failed badly today.

Yes to axing Waller but Chigumbura is more of the same. Along with Masakadza, Musakanda and Moor , they are so out of form. Badly missed Raza and Williams, who probably would have got us home today. At least the bowling has been good.

Next game:

Mire
Masakadza (he gets the remaining 3 ODIs to score runs otherwise dropped)
Ervine
Raza
Burl (twice now 30 and out which is worrying, but in form)
Musakanda (or Williams if fit)
Moor
Cremer
Chatara
Mpofu / Spinner (maybe N Waller at 7 to strengthen the batting)
Ngarava

pj moor is out of form and he knows it so he gave mire
strike and kept his wicket long enough to get the team
over the line. those muppets hami, waller cant even
think

[Googly]

What are the odds of winning a game? This is grim.

[Flakeman]

To be fair, the umpires had a shocker. PJ didn't touch it, Shazad was meant to be run out on 30 but wasn't given, and Musakandas foot was behind the line.

Hate to say it but we don't even have run out referals this series...its shocking

[eugene]

This loss sucks. Losing to Afghanistan with regularity is an embarrassment. Zimbabwean cricket is finished.

[Kriterion_BD]

Afghan's continue to improve. However these batting collapses are an indication that new talents need to be found. Top order is fairly solid, minus Stanikzai. Shahzad, Rahmat, Nabi, are good. Najibullah, Samiullah, are OK. But lower order is too hit or miss. Overall, Afghanistan's batting is sub par...their bowling is keeping them competitive. But against better sides, they will struggle if the batting doesnt improve. And for that they need to dump has beens like Stanikzai. What an annoyingly inept dude.

[Flakeman]

Did we seriously only have one spinner on this turning track today? Madness...Mire was awful with the ball. Pitch was so placid for pace bowling. Get another spinner in the team. Where on earth is Chisoro? Get Williams back in and stop wasting our time !! I don't get the thought process here at all. Also Chatara, Ngarava and Mpofu are all absolute walking wickets.

[sixes fan]

Afghan's continue to improve. However these batting collapses are an indication that new talents need to be found. Top order is fairly solid, minus Stanikzai. Shahzad, Rahmat, Nabi, are good. Najibullah, Samiullah, are OK. But lower order is too hit or miss. Overall, Afghanistan's batting is sub par...their bowling is keeping them competitive. But against better sides, they will struggle if the batting doesnt improve. And for that they need to dump has beens like Stanikzai. What an annoyingly inept dude.

correctly said, that afghan side is nothing special its just
that we are too stupid to realise that and of coz we keep
trying the same mistakes hoping for a different result
The afghans strenghts is they know believe they are miles ahead
of zim, they know sooner or later we will self destruct.
Same with the irish difference is we realised the irish
are shit as well and sliding down too, they dont have a
decent left arm spinner to save them. Get in the young
kids with a different mindset against the afghans. ffs
ngarava and musakanda could hit sixes whilst hami &
waller cant do shit. Ngarava has the nerve to attack the
batsmen with short ball, tempts batsmen to drive than
shit mpofu always looking to bowl defensively. This is
his 2nd odi and is already bowling better than mpofu
burl better than hami, mire a quick 50 in just his 2nd game
against them ring the changes please bring in kids with
ambition and let them have a go

[eugene]

This Afghan side really doesn't strike me as a particularly talented bunch, apart from one or two guys. They are basically decent hardworking associate cricketers with a lot of self-belief, and they are kicking our butts. Hamilton Masakadza is someone who should be showing these guys who is boss, instead he is a walking wicket.

[Kriterion_BD]

The talent in Afghanistan is mostly in the age group levels. Nabi, Rahmat, Dawlat, and Rashid are talented. Hamza is decent. But I guess they have talent in their age groups since they always perform at a top 8 level.

It takes some time for those results to translate to the senior side. Guys like Usman Ghani for some reason have been discarded.

But the progress they are making seems viable. There's no scenario of outside events affecting their cricket since things cant get any worse. Only is the board which is run very well by Asian standards. Asians have adopted cricket as their culture, even more than Brits or Aussies have.

In Zimbabwe you get the feeling that whether its the ZC boss like Chingoka or a senior player like Hami - you get the feeling its just about money for them. No passion, no sense of pride or "this is a relic of our culture". Obviously not the case for most white players, fickle Williams aside.

Afghan's now have a 10-6 advantage over Zim which isnt "miles ahead" except most games have been played in ZIM.

The question is who replaced guys like Hami and Williams? You need another Burl and Ervine to plug that gap. I like the look of Ngrava and Mumba looks good for red ball. Chatara is getting back into form.

[jaybro]

Dark days for sure, although we lost both games from winning positions ....

We badly need 1 class batsman to depend on in the middle order like Andy Flower or BRMT were in previous years ......