Raza confident Chevrons will come good
AFTER a disappointing end to their first T20I against Sri Lanka on Sunday evening at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium (RPICS) in Colombo, Zimbabwe T20 captain Sikandar Raza is confident the team will come good in the upcoming games.
Zimbabwe lost a last ball thriller by just three wickets and will have the chance to rectify their mistakes when they face Sri Lanka in the second match today at the same venue.
The game starts at 3.30pm Zim time. It will be a do-or-die encounter for the Chevrons who have to avoid defeat in order to keep the series alive.
Despite Sunday’s defeat, Raza continues making and breaking records after he top scored for Zimbabwe with 62 runs off 42 balls and went on to finish with impressive bowling figures of 3/13 in his four over spell.
Raza became the first ever player to score half centuries in five consecutive innings while also taking at least two wickets in those innings in the history of T20I cricket.
He has solidified his status as one of the finest ever T20I players in the world.
Speaking after their disappointing defeat on Sunday, Raza said he believes his team has what it takes to change their fortunes around going forward. He believes the opportunity to play against experienced campaigners such as Angelo Mathews is good for the players in the Chevrons set up.
“I am really proud of the boys, the courage they showed, the way we fielded and the way they bowled. At the end of the day, you have some of their two most experienced cricketers (Mathews and Dasun Shanaka) and some of our youngsters came against them.
“But the good things is, that is the beauty of cricket and that is the beauty of Zimbabwe that e play against these big nations because this experience for Blessing (Muzarabani), for (Richard) Ngarava, for Luke (Jongwe) and for myself, playing against Angelo (Mathews) and some of the senior guys; it will go a long way, it will help us in development of our own game as a country.
“When we come in these situations in future these boys will be able to hold themselves on and Inshallah we will win more games than lose,” said Raza.
He also tipped the bowlers, who in the past couple of games failed to kill off games, to deliver as he is confident they have what it takes to win matches.
“Cricket is your gut feeling and as a leader you have to listen to (gut) and everybody, like I said the day before yesterday that all of us are leaders with the ball. When we get the ball in hand, we trust ourselves, the whole team trusts the guy who’s got the ball in hand and today (Sun-day) it’s no different, even when we conceded 37 odd runs in the last three overs, we know these boys will come right, I know they will, Inshallah, come right,” he said.
THE Africa Cup of Nations defending champions Senegal made a big statement in their emphatic 3-0 win against Gambia in Yamoussoukro yesterday afternoon.
The Teranga Lions made a flying start as they went a goal ahead in the fourth minute as Papa Gueye pulled off a stellar finish in the opening salvo of the game.
From there on it was a back and forth affair between the two teams as they battled for possession in midfield.
Gambia tried to break down Senegal’s defence but could not do so as their opponents kept things extremely tight at the back.
Ebou Adams of Gambia was sent off in stoppage time of the first half after a strong foul on the opposition. By the end of the half, Senegal went into the break a goal ahead.
The Teranga Lions kept up the momentum from the first half and by the 52nd minute doubled their lead through young prodigy Lamine Camara who popped up and scored from Ismaïla Sarr’s cross.
Senegal continued to dominate the match, especially with an advantage of their opponents being down to ten men.
A curling effort into the top corner by Camara in the 86th minute sealed the deal for the Lions as they won the match 3-0.
A strong defensive and attacking display from the Teranga Lions ensured that they started off their defence of the Afcon title in style — SuperSport.