Match thread - Game 2 - Sth African Composite XI vs Zimbabwe

Sibanda falls early, again. I still think the Sibanda/Taylor opening combination is best.

Zim 1/16

20/2

9.1 Kruger to Masakadza, OUT, edge into the slips, easy catch at #1, Masakadza can't hide his disappointment before eventually trduging off the field.

H Masakadza c Snijman b Kruger 9 (43m 29b 0x4 0x6) SR: 31.03

...although Taibu's at least showing some enterprise:

10.4 Burger to Taibu, 2 runs, short and pulls through mid wicket, not out of the middle again

10.3 Burger to Taibu, 2 runs, not as well timed this time

10.2 Burger to Taibu, FOUR, worked off the pads to long leg, Kruger's chase is in vain

2/55 at lunch. Could be better, but it's an improvement on yesterday!

And they all go to pieces again:

19.4 Burger to Taylor, OUT, edged to gulley, suddenly looking like the match could be over today already

BRM Taylor c Kruger b Burger 0 (1m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00

19.3 Burger to Taylor, no run, lets it go over the top of the stumps

19.2 Burger to Chibhabha, OUT, end of a fighting partnership, little nick to the keeper

CJ Chibhabha c Dyili b Burger 35 (61m 35b 5x4 0x6) SR: 100.00

It's impossible to win a match after a first innings score of 89. Such a shame that Zimbabwe are so hot/cold. That used to be Bangladesh's title until Zimbabwe started pulling off the occasional win (Aus, WI, etc) 😂

Kopje wrote:Seems like South Africa Composite XI is in trouble 😂 😂 39/4 , i hope more wickets fall

Yeah, they aren't doing well, but only need 110 more. The good news is that Hector and Madsen are both out. I would have brought Chigumbura and Mpofu on for an over each before stumps.

Incidentally, Sean Williams is fielding. Must have been 12th man.

zimdan wrote:

brmtaylor.com admin wrote:When you have Streak, Price, Brent, Taylor and Williams all fighting for three places, well, that's just stupid - there is room for all of them in the first eleven.

1. V. Sibanda

2. B. Taylor

3. T. Taibu (wk)

4. S. Williams

5. C. Chibhabha

6. H. Masakadza

7. H. Streak

8. E. Chigumbura

9. P. Utseya (c)

10. G. Brent

11. R. Price

That should be the apolitical eleven, IMO. Not exactly a bad batting lineup either, First Class centuries to each player.

Agreed, but i stil feel your underestimating Dabengwa. He has been the only consistent player on the zimbabwe side, and everyone straight away goes and drops him because he hasnt done anything majorly spectacular.

He is consistent, but I don't think he is better than anyone in the above eleven.

brmtaylor.com admin wrote:Must have been a shocking pitch for such low scores.

CricInfo report also blames the pitch. Although given Zim's 2nd-innings total, it can't have been that bad...

maehara wrote:

brmtaylor.com admin wrote:Must have been a shocking pitch for such low scores.

CricInfo report also blames the pitch. Although given Zim's 2nd-innings total, it can't have been that bad...

Yeah, agreed. In my match report I wrote:

A win is a win, but frankly, this South African team is very weak and we should not be asking ourselves if Zimbabwe will beat them, but by how large the margin will be. A 10 wicket win in the first game was a good comprehensive win, but 51 runs is too close for comfort. While the pitch was bad - as demonstrated in Zimbabwe's second innings, it wasn't impossible to score off, and in reality, Zimbabwe should have posted 250 in the first innings too.

Great minds think alike - I had similar sentiment in my own match report:

As unlikely as it may have seemed at close of play on Thursday, Zimbabwe mopped up Composite’s tail on Saturday morning to secure a 51-run win and an unassailable 2-0 lead in the SuperSport Challenge, with just one match left to play. Elton Chigumbura took 5/33 to help reduce Composite to 98 all out - which does make the result look more like the vagaries of a dodgy pitch, than a match based on talent. A win is a win, but quite a few of the Zimbabwe side will need to take a look at how they’ve performed this match, as it wasn’t really up to the standards we’d like to expect.

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

First Class match

Date: December 20-23, 2007 (4 day match)

Start of play: unknown

Venue: Paarl, South Africa

Zimbabwe squad: Prosper Utseya (c), Gary Brent (vc), Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Elton Chigumbura, Keith Dabengwa, Hamilton Masakadza, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Christopher Mpofu, Raymond Price, Vusimuzi Sibanda, Tatenda Taibu, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams. (reserves: Timycen Maruma, Tinotenda Mawoyo, Tawanda Mupariwa, Graeme Cremer)

South African Composite XI squad: Benjamin Hector (c), Paul Adams (vc), Athenkosi Dyili (wk), Shane Burger, Jandre Coetzee, Rushdi Jappie, Alan Kruger, Shaun Liebisch, Wayne Madsen, Brendon Reddy, Pepler Sandri, Blake Snijman

Injury concerns: Sean Williams (hurt feelings)

Live stream: not televised

Edit: The Zimbabwe squad has been announced

Please post all discussion about the second SuperSport Challenge match in this thread. It is expected that Cricinfo will be covering it with constant updates as they were last time, but without the ball-by-ball. This match, unless SuperSport have a change of heart, is not expected to be televised either in South Africa or abroad.

Squad has been announced.

brmtaylor.com wrote:Zimbabwe squad: Prosper Utseya (c), Gary Brent (vc), Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Elton Chigumbura, Keith Dabengwa, Hamilton Masakadza, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Christopher Mpofu, Raymond Price, Vusimuzi Sibanda, Tatenda Taibu, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams. (reserves: Timycen Maruma, Tinotenda Mawoyo, Tawanda Mupariwa, Graeme Cremer)

No Duffin, no Cremer (the reserves are stay-at-home reserves, so are unlikely to play).

With a bit of luck, the starting eleven will look like this: Vusi Sibanda, Brendan Taylor, Chamu Chibhabha, Tatenda Taibu (wk), Sean Williams, Hamilton Masakadza, Elton Chigumbura, Prosper Utseya, Gary Brent, Ray Price, Chris Mpofu.

That is a perfect team make-up I think. Chigumbura and Brent can take the new ball, Chris Mpofu can be first change and if the need a part-timer to bowl some pace they could turn to Chibhabha. Then Utseya and Price can come on and choke the opposition for runs like they did in the ODI's.

Williams returning to the middle order is a major boost, hopefully by the end of this match his average will be over 50.

But as ever, while that is the strongest lineup, there is always a possibility of a surprise selection. Probably Dabengwa will play ahead of Chris Mpofu, the selectors seem to stick with Dabengwa quite a lot.

And the team: Sibanda, Taylor, Chibhabha, Taibu, Matsikenyeri, Masakadza, Chigumbura, Dabengwa, Utseya, Price, Mpofu

http://content-www.cricinfo.com/ci/engi ... 21827.html

Yes, you read correctly. Two white players, following on from events earlier this week, Gary Brent and Sean Williams were not included. Matsikenyeri and Dabengwa both got into the team ahead of Zimbabwe's best First Class batsman, Sean Williams.

I wonder what the excuse will be - maybe he has another headache :roll:

I'm sure as hell hoping Cricinfo have made one gigantic stuff up in their team listing....

Zimbabwe batting first. In another strange move, Chris Mpofu is opening the batting (just kidding).