Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor on Sunday acknowledged that opting to bat first after winning the toss was a mistake after the national cricket team slumped to a 10-wicket thrashing at the hands of Pakistan.
The wicket at Harare Sports Club proved a tough one to bat on initially and Taylor’s decision was soon brought into question as Zimbabwe reached a mere total of 225 for six.
The conditions improved later in the day and Pakistan easily chased down Zimbabwe’s modest target with openers Mohammad Hafeez, who scored an unbeaten century and half-centurion Imran Farhat reaching the target with 47 balls to spare.
“Unfortunately I made a bad decision at the toss, we were totally outplayed today. I wanted to put them in to bat, what in God’s name made me want to say we want to bat I don’t know. I apologise to the boys for that.
“We are all desperate to get better, and hopefully we can put a good performance together soon,” said Taylor.
His coach Alan Butcher was, however, quick to support his skipper highlighting that it was not something that the team would dwell on.
“We decided that we wanted to bowl, he (Taylor) happened to say the wrong thing,” Butcher said.
“He stood up in front of everybody and said that’s what he did. It takes a big man to admit his mistake. It’s something that happens; we’ll have to live with that and move on.”
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The emphatic defeat all but ended any hopes Zimbabwe had of staging a fightback in the three-match series after the tourists also managed a five-run victory in the first match Bulawayo.
However, after analysing, Zimbabwe’s performance it would be misguided to blame the comprehensive loss to Taylor’s mistake.
Butcher felt a more confident approach by the batting department would have saved the one-day international series.
