MATCH THREAD! West Indies vs Zimbabwe 2nd test @ Queens Bulawayo

[americanzimfan]

As an American attempting to understand Test Cricket, I need some help on this one. Why would the West Indies agree to a draw when they could play tomorrow and have a good chance of surpassing 179 to 220 runs on the final day?

Thank you in advance.

Today was the final day. At the time they agreed to draw, only 15 overs (1 hour) was left in the match which was not enough to get a decisive result

Then that is where my error was. I thought Test Cricket was a five-day, not four-day match.

[pariah]

Well done to Zimbabwe.

This is probably the worst Test side Zimbabwe has ever fielded and they've overachieved.

It's easy for the West Indies fans to be disappointed in their side and their players, but I think if one considers the number of players who put up their hands unexpectedly then I think world cricket has to agree that ZIM genuinely earned this result and they deserved it. A lot was made about the pitch and how much patience (i.e. time) was required to force a result, but in the end, both sides played on the same strip.

1. I didn't expect Mpofu to come out and be so tight with his bowling.
2. Raza had a very tough and unproductive time in the Test in SL so much that despite being trusted more in the ODIs, Williams seemed to be trusted more by "captain" Cremer in the 1st Test. No one expected him to both be so tight with his economy like Mpofu, and to also get so many wickets, a couple of them genuine bowler's wickets.
3. Most of all, no one expected Moor to do this well, and in fairness he was the difference.
4. On paper this side was already defeated. I think Cricinfo calling it a great escape is apt. Cremer will be personally proud because batting an equivalent of 25 overs and 2.5 hours without a single boundary is the kind of over my dead body type of innings. I think someone once had that kind of partnership with Andy in India. Will look it up just now. Those 2.5 hours made quite a difference to the result because I would have the Calypso Kings to chase down 200 in 2 hours.

Hami did extremely well to single-handedly set up the Test just like Craig Ervine (unfortunately neither got MoM despite single-handedly setting up the contest on both occasions), but just like Regis later, it's something we know they have in them and in fairness, something we(at least I) expect.

[pariah]

Cremer doing well and Hhm is nowhere to be seen, shock

He might be on holiday in French Guiana.

Some of us do have businesses to run. Not like you 8-4/9-5 minimize cricinfo desktop or hide app antics.

While it's forgivable to miss meetings when Proteas are in action, how do you explain doing so for Zimbabwe.

I've been missing plenty times when Hami, Panyangara and Elton etc have been wreaking havoc too. I missed Regis even though I caught his NZ and BD exploits.

[pariah]

Is this our best ever test result against the Windies?

Has to be one of ZIM's best ever results, not just against WI.

That one when Hami got his ton, and Blignaut kept trying to rip Ridley Jacobs' head off can;t count because that side was strong.

In all honesty this was a crappy XI. Innings defeat with 3-4 days wouldn't have been a surprise.

I can assure you there are plenty people out there still trying to figure out what happened.

Cremer poor with the ball, Brendan Taylor poor with the bat (Ervine too), some will argue Jarvis missing as well so literally no attack but ZIM still win? How? PJ Moor being one of the names coming up won't make Holder and Co sleep well tonight.

A lot of West Indies players are getting the sack big time. I;m looking forward to their next Test squad.

ZIM outdid Houdini!

Maybe that should be PJ Moor's nickname.

[pariah]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/ ... series-win

"On very slow, low wickets, to have Shannon and Kemar doing what they did was great to watch," Law said. "When the ball was flying through, it excites everybody at the ground. They toiled manfully in these conditions. The first Test was very hot and dry, and they kept coming. Those guys have been great and the captain himself got a hundred in the first innings and bowled well today as well. I can't be more proud of our boys. Fast bowlers get the rough end of the stick in these conditions, but it was tough for the spinners as well. The turn was slow and the batsmen had time to adjust. I'm sure our fast bowlers are looking forward to going to New Zealand."

Come on Stuart law. The name Chris Mpofu???

"It's tough enough taking 20 wickets in a Test match, but when the pitch offers you nothing on the final day It seemed to offer more on days one and two than it did on days four and five. Credit to Zimbabwe, they fought really hard."

"The challenge [for Zimbabwe] is always going away from home. To play your cricket on slow, turgid, nothing wickets is not really going to set yourself forward and continue your growth to win games of cricket. We have issues around the world with the quality of pitches, especially when a touring team lands on your shores. I'd just like to see a more even contest between bat and ball. We've come from England where the ball was swinging and seaming, it provided great cricket. There are a lot of people saying that Test cricket is dying; on a pitch like this, it is. No disrespect - they utilised what they had to get ahead, but for the growth of the sport, I think we need to be growing on better pitches."

Surely ZC (i.e. Taibu and Streak) need to explain. What's the plan. Certainly not this?

[eugene]

How much control do Streak etc have over the pitch? QSC looks in rather rough condition in general, the field had a lot of brown patches.

The fact that Jarvis was out injured, Cremer wasn't his usual destructive self, and BRMT and Ervine didn't show-up, but we still got a draw is quite remarkable. Quite an encouraging result really.

[Mr Twig]

As an American attempting to understand Test Cricket, I need some help on this one. Why would the West Indies agree to a draw when they could play tomorrow and have a good chance of surpassing 179 to 220 runs on the final day?

Thank you in advance.

Today was the final day. At the time they agreed to draw, only 15 overs (1 hour) was left in the match which was not enough to get a decisive result

Then that is where my error was. I thought Test Cricket was a five-day, not four-day match.

It is. The match started on Sunday and finished on Thursday. However, Zimbabwe’s next Test match against South Africa in December will be four days.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/ ... r-day-test

[jaybro]

Valid points by Stu Law about our pitches and game plan yes preparing these types of pitches don't make for attractive matches and also it doesn't prepare our players for overseas conditions.

Yes Streak has control over the pitches this type of pitch is what he asked for

I will defend Streak and the pitches because this is obviously how they saw our best chance of winning and if we didn't drop so many catches, play terrible shots or get some rough umpiring decisions we might have won both Tests.

Looking back at the dismissals I cant remember too many Windies wickets be given away cheaply whilst there were plenty of Zimbo wickets given to poor shots.

I have no doubt if Zimbabwe starts playing 6-8 tests a year they will win test matches at home

Credit to Raza, Hami, Moor, Regis & Cremer for their batting especially the guys on the last day. Really happy for Regis who may have saved his career.

[TapsC]

Teams with great fast bowlers always hate playing on spinning pitches. You can't always have it your way. If we had played to our potential with all the players fit we would have beaten them. The first thing we are concerned about is not losing, then winning. We can focus on the quality of the pitch after that. We would have lost inside 3 days on a green pitch.

The question I have is after this generation is done we might actually have better seamers than spinners. Look at Mumba Bruce Chatara Vitori Jarvis Muzarabani Ngarava Nyauchi Madziva Jongwe Mashinge etc. They are all 28 and below I think. If you look at the young spinners they are not that many Welly Mufudza Ainsley Mavuta etc. Can't think of that many under 28..

are we not better creating green pitches to enhance our young generation of fast bowlers instead of the spinners. From what I also saw I think the real myth about Zimbabwe and spin is linked to the fact that our best players play spin better not necessarily that everybody plays spin better. In fact only Ervine Williams and Taylor are 100% more comfortable playing spin I think out of the real batsmen. I think Raza can play both. Hami Chamu and Mire prefer pace. Can't really figure out Regis at this point. PJ is maybe better against spin. The point being it's not the whole team

I would assume the younger generation like Tari and Burl are more used to playing pace having been in England for so long so that might change.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

Well done to Zimbabwe.

This is probably the worst Test side Zimbabwe has ever fielded and they've overachieved.

It's easy for the West Indies fans to be disappointed in their side and their players, but I think if one considers the number of players who put up their hands unexpectedly then I think world cricket has to agree that ZIM genuinely earned this result and they deserved it. A lot was made about the pitch and how much patience (i.e. time) was required to force a result, but in the end, both sides played on the same strip.

1. I didn't expect Mpofu to come out and be so tight with his bowling.
2. Raza had a very tough and unproductive time in the Test in SL so much that despite being trusted more in the ODIs, Williams seemed to be trusted more by "captain" Cremer in the 1st Test. No one expected him to both be so tight with his economy like Mpofu, and to also get so many wickets, a couple of them genuine bowler's wickets.
3. Most of all, no one expected Moor to do this well, and in fairness he was the difference.
4. On paper this side was already defeated. I think Cricinfo calling it a great escape is apt. Cremer will be personally proud because batting an equivalent of 25 overs and 2.5 hours without a single boundary is the kind of over my dead body type of innings. I think someone once had that kind of partnership with Andy in India. Will look it up just now. Those 2.5 hours made quite a difference to the result because I would have the Calypso Kings to chase down 200 in 2 hours.

Hami did extremely well to single-handedly set up the Test just like Craig Ervine (unfortunately neither got MoM despite single-handedly setting up the contest on both occasions), but just like Regis later, it's something we know they have in them and in fairness, something we(at least I) expect.

Besides the quip about it being the worst Test side (obviously not true) this might be the most sensible thing you've ever posted here.

Not full of the usual schadenfreude (a word originating from Germany, foreignfield will appreciate it I'm sure) that we've become accustomed to.