Zimbabwe are ever presents at the T20 World Cup with the exception of the 2009 tournament but they have never got past the first round at any stage and that will be their immediate goal going into this year’s event.
Form
Zimbabwe have come out on the wrong end of a few series with Bangladesh and Afghanistan in recent times but they retain some quality in their ranks and if their big players have huge matches they can still cause an upset or at least stick it to the big boys.
As a full member nation still all eyes will be on Zimbabwe to come out of their qualifying group into the main draw but that pressure doesn’t always translate into success as we’ve seen from them in the last few tournaments.
Key men
Hamilton Masakadza has taken over the captaincy of this side now and he is a really big player for the African side. He is the one truly world class batsman they have in their ranks and when he fires if the rest of the team can make cameos around him Zimbabwe are always going to be competitive.
Sean Williams is a solid all-rounder at any level but in the first phase of this tournament you would expect him to play a significant part. He doesn’t panic with the bat as we saw in the 50 World Cup last year and his slow left arm bowling could well be important in this competition especially if Zimbabwe make the main draw.
Fixtures
Tues Mar 8 – Group B: Hong Kong vs Zimbabwe (Nagpur)
Thurs Mar 10 – Group B: Scotland vs Zimbabwe (Nagpur)
Sat Mar 12 – Group B: Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe (Nagpur)
Stats
Overall T20I record: P48 W10 L37 1 tie
Last 10 results (Most recent last): LLLWLLLLWW
Record vs group opponents:
Vs Afghanistan: P4 W0 L4
Vs Hong Kong: Never met
Vs Scotland: Never met
Record batting first: P24 W6 L18
Record batting second: P24 W4 L19 1 tie
Odds
Tournament odds: 500/1 (General)
Group B odds: 11/8 (Ladbrokes)
Team bets
Just the one bet for me with Zimbabwe. Normally I swerve captains like the plague with the pressure that is on them in this fast and furious format of the game but I can’t ignore Hamilton Masakadza to be the Top Zimbabwe Batsman.
Masakadza is the one player in this line up that could play Test cricket and not look out of place and opening the batting is perfect for him. He can score all around the wicket with placement or power and he can play the long innings which is going to be necessary in this tournament.
Over the course of three or more innings I would expect Masakadza to get a start on a couple of occasions and his quality, particularly against the weaker nations, can see him to be his side’s top batsman at this tournament.
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