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Whatmore demands more from his charges

Sport
ZIMBABWE national cricket team coach Dave Whatmore has implored his side to translate performances into victories, when they take on visiting New Zealand in three one-day internationals with the first on tomorrow at Harare Sports Club.

ZIMBABWE national cricket team coach Dave Whatmore has implored his side to translate performances into victories, when they take on visiting New Zealand in three one-day internationals with the first on tomorrow at Harare Sports Club.

BY Kevin Mapasure

Since the Australian coach took over, Zimbabwe have won just two of their 16 matches, but he is confident the team is going in the right direction and expects results to start coming at some point.

“We have got to keep knocking, at some point the door will open,” said Whatmore yesterday.

“In this series we want to make sure we put the opponent under pressure for long periods of the game.”

Zimbabwe are likely to experiment with Craig Ervine batting at number three and Vusi Sibanda in the lower middle order as they search for runs.

But Whatmore is also focusing a lot on his bowling department where he wants the team to attack well enough so that they do not put pressure on the batting department.

“We are just a looking for an extra ounce of effort, once we corner our opponents, something that we have been lacking. We have been competitive except for a couple of games against India and we want to make sure we take advantage of good starts.”

He said that he was targeting at least one win in the upcoming series against a strong New Zealand side that features, among others, the dangerously explosive Martin Guptill.

On the other hand, the tourists’ coach Mike Hesson said they were expecting a tough series.

“We know Zimbabwe are very tough when they play in their conditions and we are not taking them lightly.”

Zimbabwe squad

E Chigumbura, H Masakadza, C Chibhabha, S Williams, C Ervine, S Raza Butt, C Chakabva, C Cremer, P Utseya, T Panyangara, C Mpofu, V Sibanda, L Jongwe, J Nyumbu and N Madziva.