Zimbabwe were not at the T20 World Cup a year ago so they will be eager to make the most of their chance at this staging of the event and show that they are good enough to compete on this stage. They have a young side which you feel is going to improve over the next few years so if they can come out of their first round group and ensure they are back in the Caribbean in two years then that would immediately constitute a good campaign.
Profile
Captain: Craig Ervine
Previous Best: Group Stage x5
Best Odds: 500/1 Boylesports
Key Players: Sean Williams & Sikandar Raza
Group B Fixtures
Oct 17 vs Ireland at Hobart
Oct 19 vs West Indies at Hobart
Oct 21 vs Scotland at Hobart
Squad
Craig Ervine (c), Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva, Tendai Chatara, Bradley Evans, Luke Jongwe, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Sikandar Raza, Milton Shumba, Sean Williams. Standby Players: Tanaka Chivanga, Innocent Kaia, Kevin Kasuza, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Victor Nyauchi.
Team Guide
Zimbabwe have never got past the main group stage of the T20 World Cup and I don’t suppose there will be many takers expecting them to go better this time around. If they can come out of their first group and maybe run a couple of big nations close then that will show sufficient progress which for teams at their level right now that is pretty much the best they can hope for when they come to these global tournaments.
Zimbabwe look to have a decent array of batters. They might lack a power hitter or two but there are more ways to skin a cat than smashing everything out of the park. By having a couple of batters who are better than part-time spinners it means that they have a large number of bowling options which I always think is good for the lesser teams because invariably one of the main bowlers will get it wrong. Zimbabwe could be dark horses for a good event here.
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Betting
Usually when I am betting on a team batter I’d like a standout player whether it is the man who is the glue to the innings together or a power hitter who can come in and catch up down the order. Zimbabwe don’t really have a standout because they all adopt the same style of not so much safety first but not taking huge risks but finding the gaps and run hard. That means nobody stands out as real value in the batter market.
In many ways you could say the same about the bowling as well. Their seamers are all solid rather than either swing it or have out and out extreme pace and their spinners all turn it the same way. I have found some value in this market though and it comes in the man who took the most wickets in the ODI series in Australia last month in Ryan Burl. He is a leg spinner which I think might be significant because neither of his three opponents are renowned to be good against mystery wrist spin. Burl showed in that ODI series against Australia that he likes conditions and can get something out of the wickets and at 16/1 there might be value in him to be the leading Zimbabwe bowler in this tournament.
Tips
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