Report on first day of Zimbabwe A v Namibia 12-14 January 2004 by John Ward

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Scorecard:

Zimbabwe A v Namibia

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Despite poor batting, Zimbabwe A finished the first day with a slight advantage over the Namibian tourists at Harare Sports Club. The man of the day was Gavin Ewing, who scored a lively fifty and then took three wickets with his flighty off-breaks before the close. Namibia finished with 139 for six in reply to the home side’s 222.

 

On a hot sunny day Namibia won the toss and decided to bowl. This was on the advice of their coach, who is now Kevin Curran; he remembered the Sports Club pitch from the old days when it would often give considerable help to the bowlers early on. It still happens to a limited extent, but knowledgeable captains usually prefer to bat first at the ground nowadays.

 

The pitch for this match proved to be excellent, good for batting with pace and bounce, and also allowing bowlers a little help for both seam and spin. For once the big scoreboard was working, but there had been no significant advertising and as usual at Harare Sports Club, outside international matches, no crowd.

 

After the first over Deon Kotze could consider his decision to be justified. To the fourth ball, without a run on the board, Richie Sims shouldered arms and was bowled by a ball from Gerrie Snyman that moved back and hit his off stump; he later admitted to being deceived as the previous ball had swung away.

 

Andre Hoffman was soon into his stride with some positive strokeplay against rather inaccurate bowling, and made 28 before being given out perhaps controversially caught at the wicket off Burton van Rooi; he appeared to hit the ground rather than the ball. Two more catches by the keeper apparently caused the batsmen much annoyance, with Trevor Gripper (31) and Douglas Marillier (2) both given out in the tall Bjorn Kotze’s first over. Zimbabwe A were 75 for four.

 

Alester Maregwede led a recover briefly, scoring 28, and there was no doubt about his dismissal when he drove at Kotze and edged to the keeper, reducing Zimbabwe to 115 for five. Regardless of the umpiring controversy, the Zimbabwe A batsmen showed very little inclination to knuckle down and apply the disciplines of the longer form of the game, except perhaps for Gripper. The others were looking too readily for the ‘big shot’ from the first ball and there was little effort to dig in and build an innings.

 

There was more of the same as Charles Coventry and Gavin Ewing hit out gaily to add 59 runs in eight overs, until Coventry lashed Kola Burger straight to backward point to depart for 31. He has been criticized for being unable to play the longer version of the game, despite being a good one-day player, and this innings supported that argument.

 

Dealing almost exclusively in boundaries – he hit 13 fours – Ewing ran to 58 off 57 balls and then drove a catch into the covers off spinner J B Burger, making Zimbabwe A 205 for seven, with only three tailenders to come. Waddington Mwayenga did not last long, skying J B Burger to midwicket for just 4 runs, though Jordane Nicolle was a little more adhesive.

 

Brent threw his wicket away uncharacteristically for 19, playing a wild shot to Bjorn Kotze and edging the ball on to his stumps. Nicolle then holed out to a good running catch at midwicket for 3, leaving Ryan Bennett unbeaten without having scored. The total was 222, a poor performance by the national second team, reeking of lack of application.

 

J B Burger, whose big hitting earned him a name in the World Cup, was soon into his stride, slicing a boundary just over the slip cordon and then pulling Bennett into the western stand for six. His partner Riaan Walters was less successful, scoring just 6 before cutting Nicolle to be very well caught low at backward point by Coventry; 28 for one.

 

Burger restrained himself for a while after this, apart from cutting Nicolle disdainfully for six. Next ball, though, Nicolle got revenge by knocking his off stump out of the ground, but his over-excited celebration of the wicket was not unacceptable. Burger had scored 44 out of 51 off 31 balls, with seven fours and two sixes.

 

Danie Keulder and Stephen Swanepoel did not try to emulate the previous act, but consolidate quietly until Swanepoel (12) tried to turn a full-length ball from Bennett to midwicket and his leg stump had a nasty accident. The scoring rate slowed right down as Namibia tried to adapt to three-day cricket, until Sims came on to bowl and send down three successive long hops that Keulder gratefully pulled for four each time.

 

Play ran late due mainly to an abysmal Zimbabwe over rate, and just about normal time for the close Keulder fell lbw to Ewing for a generally dogged 38. Ewing in his next over tossed one so high and temptingly that Hugo Ludick (2) could not resist the temptation, tried to hit the ball over the sightscreen and was gently bowled. Van Rooi followed, also for 2, bowled when apparently caught in two minds as to whether to attack or defend.

 

The day ended with two of the team’s four off-spinners (Ewing and Gripper, the others being Sims, who had a most forgettable day, and Marillier – some sort of record?) tossing the ball up to the defensive bats of Deon Kotze (27) and Melt van Schoor (6). Perhaps Namibia tried too hard to play for the close, but in the final half-hour they certainly surrendered the initiative.

 

(Article: Copyright © 2004 John Ward)