The Sunday Mail
HAVING already sent shock waves with their sensational one-run win over Pakistan, Zimbabwe will seek to continue their giant-killing act and dent India’s hopes for a T20 Cricket World Cup semi-final place.
The Chevrons wind off their bitter-sweet World Cup campaign with a match against giants India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Australia today.
The match starts at 10am local time.
Zimbabwe have already shown their class by upsetting Pakistan at the T20 World Cup.
Captain Craig Ervine wants the team to repeat the same feat.
The match is expected to attract about 90 000 fans at the MCG.
“With the win against Pakistan, it has given us a huge amount of belief that we can beat any side in the tournament.
“I don’t think that will change going into tomorrow’s (today’s) game,’’ he said.
Although angling for another upset against the T20 World Cup favourites, Ervine admits that dealing with the current ICC T20 2022 World Cup leading run-scorer, Virat Kohli, would be difficult.
Kohli has only been dismissed once in four innings at the ongoing tournament.
“I don’t think we have any plans against Virat (Kohli).
“I think he is just too good a player,” said the Chevrons skipper.
Ervine and his troops, however, still seem to have something up their sleeve.
Zimbabwe also plan to be the birthday party poopers for the Indian superstar, who turned 34 yesterday.
“Glad that Virat Kohli’s birthday is today (yesterday), not tomorrow (today),” said Ervine.
There is a lot riding on the match.
A win for India will put the Asians back on top of the group and, more importantly, confirm their spot in the semi-final.
On the other hand, a win by the Chevrons will bring Pakistan into the mix for a semi-final slot.
Even after bowing out of contention for a semi-final place, Zimbabwe still have a huge say in the destiny of the group.
If Pakistan beat Bangladesh and India loses to Zimbabwe, chances are the Babar Azam-led side will sail through to the semi-finals with a better net run rate.
For Ervine, these permutations and combinations hardly matter, as he only wants to see his bowling attack rise to the occasion.
“This is a great opportunity to bowl against some of the best guys in the world, so there is no reason why guys would not want to actually get out there and produce the goods.
“How often do you get the opportunity to put Virat Kohli in your pocket?
“I am pretty sure that our fast bowlers will be raring to go come tomorrow,” said Ervine.
With India having Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav in their ranks, the Chevron captain reckons it won’t be an easy task to deal with their batting order.
“I don’t think that special plans really work for these guys because they are so good at adapting to different conditions and different situations,” he added.
Zimbabwe have had a mixed bag in the Super 12 stage.
They came close to being the first team to book a place in the semi-final after beating Pakistan, only to lose two consecutive matches against Bangladesh and the Netherlands.
The surprise defeat to Netherlands in particular was a bitter pill to swallow for Zimbabwe’s cricket followers, who had been held spellbound by the Chevrons’ campaign at this World Cup. — Sports Reporter/Wires.
