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will show that once again that Zimbabwe have lost a One-Day International series and were also beaten in the Test match.
But with the exception of the 10 wicket-thrashing on Sunday, we have been treated to some wonderful cricket from both sides.

Sometimes, results really do not show a true reflection of what happened on the field.
Tinotenda Mawoyo once again finds himself the topic of cricket lovers’ conversations.

His innings of 163 not out in the one-off Test match was a knock of true resilience. Even though he was beaten on several occasions by Saeed Ajmal on a pitch that assisted the champion off spinner, Mawoyo battled it out and the results were clear for all to see.
So why is it then that Mawoyo is only considered a Test player when he would have been at the World Cup earlier this year had he not been injured?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a season or so ago that he was scoring runs in the country’s One-Day domestic competition at a very healthy and acceptable strike rate.

Mawoyo and Vusi Sibanda have laid the platform on most occasions in Zimbabwe’s return to Test cricket, all be it that they have only played two Test matches, but the understanding between these two batsmen is clear to see and logic will also tell you that Mawoyo will up the tempo in the shorter version of the game.

Although Vusi Sibanda is without a doubt Zimbabwe’s most attractive batsman, his frequent dismissal playing the pull shot must be more than just a bit of a concern, not only to the coaching staff but Vusi himself.

He must surely be frustrated and disappointed that more than one opportunity of scoring a match winning century has been thrown away.

Nevertheless one gets the feeling that once he is able to understand the importance of choosing the right balls to pull, this good player will become a class player who will not be satisfied with scores of anything between 30 and 80 before giving his wicket away.

However, Sibanda is a natural talent whose desire to be positive and attacking should not be tampered with too much.

He simply has to learn and realise that there are times in an innings when even the best get bogged down and that by trying to pull a ball, which is a little too full or dance down the wicket to a quality spinner, more often than not leads to your demise.

Another very worrying aspect is Zimbabwe’s fielding.

For years they have prided themselves in being one of the world’s better fielding sides.

But the pride and desire to uphold the tradition has very clearly fallen away as drop catches and misfielding has become a regular feature when the team takes to the field.

Regardless of the experience, or lack of experience, there is no excuse whatsoever for all this and the lack of energy in the field.

Looking at the batting, it was very encouraging to note that despite the fact that Zimbabwe were batting on a pitch that assisted the seamers, they didn’t crumble to a score well below the 225 they made on Sunday.

The strike rotation or lack of strike rotation still remains a concern as well as the use of the final batting power play.