HUNGRY TO DELIVER Zimbabwe need to win to qualify
ZIMBABWE coach, Heath Streak feels his players are hungry to deliver in their last International Cricket Council World Cup Qualifier Super Six match against United Arab Emirates at Harare Sports Club today, all the Chevrons need to qualify for the global showpiece.
Streak was disappointed when his lads went down by four wickets to West Indies on Monday when a win could have sent them through to next year’s tournament in England and Wales. “Disappointed having lost a close game against West Indies but I thought we batted superbly, probably just a couple of fielding errors and then and not our sharpest game with the ball. All in all pretty happy, I think the guys are really hungry to come out and put in a solid performance in all three aspects of the game tomorrow,’’ Streak said. All Zimbabwe need is a win that will take them to s e v en points and join West Indies as the two teams that make it to the World Cup via the Qualifier. Should things not go the way of the Chevrons today, which is highly unlikely, then one of teams between Afghanistan and Ireland, both on four points could leapfrog Zimbabwe when the two meet tomorrow. The weather could also play a part in denying Zimbabwe a ticket to the World Cup. Heavy rain disrupted yesterday’s match between West Indies and Scotland and might also disturb Zimbabwe’s crucial fixture with United Arab Emirates. In that way, the two teams will get a point each which takes Zimbabwe to six points which will leave them waiting for the outcome of the clash between Afghanistan and Ireland. Opener, Solomon Mire was struck on the helmet by a rising delivery from Kemar Roach which saw him retire hurt but managed to return to bat and contribute a valuable 45 runs, which was the second highest score for Zimbabwe against West Indies after Brendan Taylor’s 138. Streak indicated that the batsman appears to be fine and should be able to play against UAE today. “He has been good, he had a bat today, he seemed good, we monitoring him at the moment, as you saw in the last game, he came in batted in the end and struck it well and got us some important runs down the order,’’ Streak said.
He challenged his players to play some high-quality cricket, play to the best of their ability and get all the three facets of the game right to take their country to the World Cup.
“We want to go play good strong cricket, I think if our guys execute their skills well and do what they meant to do, we should be able to come out with a solid performance. I think our guys are due to get all three aspects, batting, bowling and fielding together all good in one game. I am pretty confident, we peaking at the right time and hopefully, we can put in a really solid performance tomorrow and make sure that we do qualify and hopefully we can look ahead for the World Cup,’’ said Streak.
The fans, who have been tremendous so far in all of Zimbabwe’s matches packed should come out in their number with crazy celebrations certain to take place if the Graeme Cremer led Chevrons beat UAE to qualify for the World Cup.