Zimbabwe takes confidence and self belief into Test | Daily News

Zimbabwe takes confidence and self belief into Test

Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer (left) with Sikander Raza at practice at the R Premadasa Stadium yesterday, AFP
Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer (left) with Sikander Raza at practice at the R Premadasa Stadium yesterday, AFP

The last time Zimbabwe won a Test match was four years ago at Harare when they defeated Pakistan by 24 runs. The architects of that victory were Hamilton Masakadza (75 and 44) and fast bowler Tendai Chatara who took 5 for 61 and ran through the Pakistan batting in the second innings.

Masakadza and Chatara are both members of the current Zimbabwe side taking on Sri Lanka in the one-off Test at the R Premadasa Stadium today.

Captain Graeme Cremer will expect these two players to play a similar role if Zimbabwe are to compete with Sri Lanka. Mazakadza with 32 Test caps is the most experienced cricketer in the Zimbabwe line up and he comes into the Test match fresh from being named Man of the Series after his country’s historic 3-2 triumph over Sri Lanka in the one-day series.

“Confidence more than anything and self belief is what we are taking from the ODI series into the Test match most,” said Cremer. “That we can actually push Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka is big for us. We have the potential to score the runs as well as take wickets.

“Definitely Test cricket is a different format and we haven’t played Test cricket for a little while but we have the quality in our team to adapt. Obviously there’s a lot more time spent in the Test match especially with the batting, we’ll still keep our scoring options open.

“It’s just about being a bit smarter when we are out there and assess the conditions, the pitch we are not quite sure about we’ll have another look today. If we can assess conditions quicker we should be okay,” he said.

Cremer said that his team is aware of the threat posed by left-arm spinner Rangana Herath who has been their nemesis.

“We know he is a quality bowler he is someone that Sri Lanka really rely on to pick up wickets,” said Cremer. “We’ve just spoken about how he tries to get people out both left-handers and right-handers. The guys have all come up with their own individual plans on how to play him. We definitely know he is a threat and he will be someone we need to keep out if we are to do well in the Test match.”

Zimbabwe’s strong point has been spin and it is with that they hope to take a lot of Sri Lankan wickets.

“We rely a lot on our spinners which have always been our wicket-taking option. We have had a few injuries Carl Mumba is struggling still with a knee which is a setback for us. We’ve still got guys who can step up and do it because we are spin heavy in our team,” said Cremer.

Zimbabwe spinners (Waller, Raza, Cremer and Williams) took 15 of the 24 wickets to fall in the ODI series.

With Zimbabwe getting to play Tests few and far between Cremer said it was not easy to adjust to the five-day game when you don’t play it consistently.

“You can see that when we play a lot of cricket we are a different team. We sometimes struggle when we go three, four, five months without a series which can be tough. It’s not easy just to walk up there and play well against top teams. If we can get a lot more cricket against good opposition it will help our cricket,” Cremer said.

In the last six years since returning to Test cricket in 2011 after a six year hiatus, Zimbabwe has played only 18 Tests. They have played so little Test cricket that they lie at the bottom of the rankings with no points.


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