Zimbabwe have warned they will show no mercy against the UAE in their World Cup match in Nelson on Thursday, with captain Elton Chigumbura promising a “ruthless” approach.
The Pool B match statistics are heavily lopsided in favour of Zimbabwe, seeking a commanding win as they bid to bounce back from their opening loss to South Africa.
“You have to take every game seriously, do the basics right and make sure when you get into a good winning position you are ruthless and win the game,” Chigumbura said on Wednesday.
Zimbabwe put up a credible showing in parts during their tournament opener against South Africa.
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They had their border rivals struggling at 83 for four before century-makers David Miller and JP Duminy mounted a 256-run rescue mission to lift the Proteas to 339.
In reply, Zimbabwe reached 191 for two before they lost their last eight wickets for just 86 runs.
“It was a confidence boost the way we played (in parts) but also disappointing to play the way we did for 90 overs but we didn’t manage to finish off,” Chigumbura said.
On paper, an established cricket nation such as the 10th-ranked Zimbabwe should be far too powerful for UAE who scrapped into the World Cup as one of the final two qualifiers along with Scotland.
Zimbabwe’s aim in the build-up to Thursday’s match has been to correct problem areas that surfaced against South Africa.
“We have to make sure that we improve on things that we didn’t do well from the first game,” Chigumbura said.
“That’s the most important thing when it comes to our team because we are quite balanced when it comes to batting and bowling, so it’s just polishing up where we went wrong in the first game.”
Zimbabwe are seen to be in a three-way battle with Ireland and the West Indies for the fourth quarter-final spot in a pool which also includes South Africa, defending champions India and Pakistan.
Ireland have already struck the first blow with their upset win over the West Indies on Monday and Zimbabwe know they cannot afford to slip-up against any of the minor teams or their chance to make the knockout phase could be over.
Saxton Oval, with its short boundaries, offers the potential for a high-scoring game.
Chigumbura is expecting big totals from his top order and not just Hamilton Masakadza who impressed with 80 against South Africa followed an unbeaten 117 against Sri Lanka in a warm-up match.
“He’s leading from the front as the senior batter in the team and it’s rubbing off on the rest of the players,” the captain said.
“The good thing about our team at the moment is everyone is in good nick, so don’t expect just Hamilton to put up a good performance.”
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