Wenslus Murape
THE more things change, the more they stay the same!
That seems to be the ongoing narrative when it comes to the Zimbabwe Chevrons, who once again shot themselves in the foot and, in the process, conceded yet another T20 series.
Afghanistan’s three-wicket victory over Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club yesterday was their eighth straight T20 series loss and also sixth straight against the Asian nation.
One will have to go as far back as January 2023 for the Chevrons’ last T20 series victory.
That came courtesy of a 2-1 series win over Ireland, a blemish the European nation went on to correct 12 months later when they took that three-match series by an identical scoreline.
Coincidentally, the loss last December began quite a disturbing trend in which Zimbabwe would take the first match before going on a losing run to concede the series.
They did it with Ireland, India and Afghanistan yesterday.
The Chevrons’ trip to Bangladesh and the recent visit by Pakistan remain the exceptions as, during both series, Zimbabwe won the last dead rubber matches.
The most infuriating aspect of Zimbabwe’s winless streak is not necessarily that they keep losing, but the manner in which they are losing.
Take yesterday’s match, for example, Afghanistan were at one point down at 44 runs for four after seven overs in their pursuit of a paltry 128 runs.
That could have been the point at which the game went Zimbabwe’s way.
However, Faraz Akram then bowled an 11-ball over with five wides to give Afghanistan the breathing space they needed. The fifth-wicket pair of Azmatullah Omarzai and Gulbadin Naib eased into the repair job as they put up 48 runs off 40 balls and swung the pendulum firmly in the Asians way.
Later, Akram’s bowling colleagues worked hard enough to dismiss Omarzai, Naib and Rashid Khan, and left Afghanistan needing seven runs in the final over to win the game.
Unfortunately, the first ball of the 20th over, bowled again by Akram, went for four, and Mohammad Nabi wrapped the chase up with three balls remaining.
A sloppy Zimbabwe eventually ended up giving away 17 extras, and have now lost all six of their bilateral T20I series against Afghanistan.
To put the blame squarely on Akram for yesterday’s defeat would be unjust.
After all, the entire team, much like they have done throughout this series, turned out to be their own worst enemies.
After Gurbaz won the toss for the third straight time and elected to bowl first, Afghanistan skittled out the hosts for a paltry 127 runs.
Brian Bennett top-scored for the hosts with 31 runs off 24, but failed to replicate his Player-of-the-Match performance in the first game as he gave away his wicket way too easily. Just when he was beginning to find his touch, the Zimbabwe opener misjudged an Azamatullah Omarzai short-ball straight into the safe hands of Naveen-ul-Haq at midwicket.
Zimbabwe never got really going after that as wickets fell at regular intervals and partnerships were hard to come by.
Only Bennett and Wessly Madhevere (21 runs off 22 balls) seemed to make the scoreboard tick and even shared a short-lived third-wicket stand in which they posted 16 runs off 18 balls.
Zimbabwe’s best partnership, however, came courtesy of a second-wicket stand by Bennett and Dion Myers that went for 35 runs off 25 balls.
Forced to defend 127, Zimbabwe looked to be within distance of an unlikely victory after the Chevrons seamers and skipper Raza made light work of Afghanistan’s top order and had them reeling at 44 for four inside first seven overs.
Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani got some extra bounce with the new ball, leaving Afghanistan at 9 runs for 2 wickets, three overs into the chase.
Muzarabani struck first, when he had Sediqullah Atal (3) tickling behind to Marumani. Ngarava then had Zubaid Akbari (2) slashing behind to Marumani, as the ball kicked up from outside off.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (15) then cut and clipped Muzarabani for fours in the fourth over, and he and Darwish Rasooli (9) picked 11 runs off the fifth.
But Muzarabani, bowling his third over in a row, found Rasooli’s leading edge, as the ball looped up to Myers at point.
Raza then brought Trevor Gwandu into the attack, and some luck went Zimbabwe’s way immediately.
A short ball skidded through without bouncing, and got Gurbaz out lbw.
Afghanistan were 44 for 4, but Zimbabwe could not capitalise as they lacked the killer instinct and allowed their opponents to cross the line and take the series 2-1.
Omarzai top-scored for the tourists with 34 runs off 37 balls, while Gulbadin Naib and Mohammed Nabi chipped in with 22 runs off 22 balls and an unbeaten 24 runs off 18 balls, respectively.
Muzarabani, Gwandu and Raza were the pick of the Zimbabwe bowlers as they finished with two wickets each.
Bennett remains the only bright light from yet another disappointing series as he finished as the top run-scorer with 107 runs from three matches.
Questions will, however, need to be asked over wicketkeeper/batter Tadiwanashe Marumani’s place in the team, especially as an opener.
Raza’s bowling changes surely need a rethink or, at the very least, deeper thought. — Cricinfo/Zimpapers Sports Hub
