Musonda eyes World Cup
ZIMBABWE women’s cricket team captain Marry-Anne Musonda wants the team to qualify for the World Cup and gatecrash their way into the top 10 teams on the globe.
The new skipper led from the front on Monday as the visiting side swept to a 57-run victory over hosts Namibia to seal the Namib Desert Women’s T20 Challenge at the Sparta Club in Walvis Bay.
Musonda’s 60 runs helped Zimbabwe claim an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series after winning the opening two games comfortably at the weekend.
They beat Namibia by six wickets in the first game on Saturday and then came back on Sunday charged up to claim an eight-wicket win.
Musonda said they were looking for a clean sweep in this tour of Namibia and were also eyeing the World Cup.
‘’We are looking forward to qualifying for the World Cup,’’ she told Zimbabwe Cricket.
‘’The coming World Cup qualifiers in May we are looking forward to winning against Uganda which is mostly the strong side.
‘’Firstly, winning the regional qualifiers and then moving to the global qualifiers and then working towards the World Cup.
‘’We have always managed to go through the regionals, our huge hiccup comes at the global qualifiers and for me that’s where i’m focussed, everything I’m planning and all the ideas I’m trying to come up with.
‘’Every time I’m in the changing room with the girls we are always talking about our attitude, to think like we are at the global qualifiers and in the final round so that we have to qualify for the World Cup.’’
She said they wanted a 5-0 clean sweep in the tour of Namibia.
The Zimbabweans were put in to bat first after losing the toss for the first time on Monday and they put on 136/8 before restricting the hosts to 79/9.
Musonda, who was named team skipper just before their departure for Namibia, shone with the bat when she got into the fray batting at number five.
She struck nine fours in her 60-run knock in 49 balls before she fell to Reehana Khan late in the innings as the Zimbabweans tried to stretch their score.
This was the first half ton of the series and, more importantly, the team’s batting performance ensured Zimbabwe powered to a competitive total.
‘’We have been talking about just redefining ourselves, how we see ourselves and the girls have been saying we want that place where we are in the top 10 for starters,’’ she said.
‘’Currently, we are 13th, the girls feel they are capable of being in the top 10 and as Zimbabwe ladies we feel that we deserve a place in the top 10.’’
She said the transition to be skipper hasn’t been a tough one.
‘’The transition from being a senior player to a captain is not too bad considering that there is already a working relationship amongst the team members and so I’m expecting us to gel very well,’’ she said.