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India did here yesterday what the West Indies couldn’t do eight days earlier.They limited South Africa to ten runs from the last over of their semifinal in the ICC Champions Trophy under the lights at the Premadasa Stadiuum to claim a remarkable victory by ten runs.They pocketed US$125 000 for the victory and stand to earn another US$300 000 if they win the final against the winners of tomorrow’s match between World Cup champions Australia and hosts Sri Lanka.As they watched the drama unfold on television at the Taj Sumudra Hotel across town, it was not difficult to imagine the emotions of the West Indies players.They were effectively eliminated when Merv Dillon delivered his infamous wide off what was to be the last ball of their opening match with South Africa needing three for victory. The resulting bye brought scores level and an edged boundary off the additional delivery formalised the defeat by two wickets.On the contrary, the Indians, catching and fielding brilliantly, kept their nerve to seize their chance amidst noisy celebrations on the field and among a crowd of around 10000 clearly partial to the team from their neighbour to the north.The outcome hinged on cramps and dehydration that forced South African opener Herschelle Gibbs to retire, distinctly ill, after 37 overs when he had compiled 116 flawless runs from 119 balls with 16 fours.He and Jacques Kallis had shared a second wicket partnership of 180 in 34 overs and, at 192 for one with 72 needed for the ticket to the final and as many 13 overs remaining, South Africa were all but home.But, just as they were at a critical stage against the West Indies, Jonty Rhodes and Boeta Dippenaar were out in the same over. Both fell to off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and South Africa suddenly found themselves effectively 194 for four with only Kallis and a cluster of unpredictable batsmen to come.Rhodes, topedging a sweep, was out to the second breathtaking catch of the innings by Yuvraj Singh, flying through the air to clutch the ball with his right hand inches from the ground.A couple of hours earlier, he lept high to his right at point to haul in left-handed opener Graeme Smith’s fierce cut shot. Such brilliant pieces of cricket inspire a team and turn a match, as Rhodes’ dismissal did.With Gibbs unlikely to return, Rhodes and Dippenaar gone and Kallis unable to club the ball with his usual force on a sluggish pitch, India sensed their chance.Their problem was selection that left them short of one front-line bowler. In the circumstances, captain Saurav Ganguly turned to opening batsman Virender Sehwag’s off-spin for five of the last ten overs when South Africa’s magic number was 64.He obliged with three wickets for 25. When he began the last over, after left-arm fast bowler Zaheer Khan had conceded a mere four from the 49th, South Africa needed another 19.Kallis hoisted his first ball into the stand at midwicket for only the second six of the match to reach 97 from 133 balls, but Sewag got him next ball to a skied catch to the keeper.He fittingly rounded things off when a strangely feeble Lance Klusener (14 off 21 balls without a boundary) skied a catch to long-off with the result already settled.Set alongside his blistering, run-a-ball 59 with ten fours that set South Africa back on their heels in the earlier sunlight, it was enough to earn Sehwag, the Tendulkar look-alike, play-alike, the Man-Of-The-Match award.India raced to 118 for three off 20 overs like a ZR van on a mission. But once Sehwag miscued a hook to midon off Kallis and Tendulkar was run out by a swift pickup and return from cover by, who else, Jonty Rhodes, the Indian innings became stalled as if it had run into rush hour traffic.Yuvraj, a tall, 20-year-old left-hander of whom plenty will be heard and written over the coming years, gave it some momentum with 62 off 67 balls with six fours, but 262 didn’t seem enough on a fair pitch and a dry, lightning-fast outfield.It looked even less so as Gibbs and Kallis set the foundation for a South African victory. Then Gibbs had to quit, South Africa went into reverse and India surged ahead.

This week’s issue comes out on the eve of the Test series between Zimbabwe and Pakistan. Rain threatens the match, but given relief from the weather it should be a fascinating and unpredictable series, with of course the advantage on paper lying with Pakistan. But paper advantage does not always mean a lot where Pakistan is concerned, as is mentioned in our Test preview, included in this issue.Apologies to our readers for the late arrival of last week’s ZCO, due to technical problems.CONTENTS

• Zimbabwe v Pakistan Preview
• Zimbabwe v Pakistan Test records
• Club cricket scores – National League Round 5
• Biographies:
  • Blessing Mahwire
  • Gavin Ewing
• Letters

We also include a link to our record section on matches between Zimbabwe and Pakistan, and it will be seen that, despite Pakistan’s often overwhelming superiority on paper, Zimbabwe have produced some very good cricket against them and have, in fact, won two of our four victories against senior Test-playing countries against them.Our best wishes go to Blessing Mahwire, a seam-bowling all-rounder, who is scheduled to make his Test debut this weekend. He will be the first player from Masvingo to represent the country at full international level, and we have updated his biography for the occasion. We also include a biography of Bulawayo all-rounder Gavin Ewing, who was included in the Test squad for the first time.There are also Test matches being played in Australia and South Africa this weekend, and one trusts Zimbabwe will not shoot themselves in the foot as England did (once again) in Australia, putting the opposition in to bat on a good batting pitch and then bowling weakly and dropping most of the catches on offer. For readers in Southern Africa, DSTV will be showing the Zimbabwe-Pakistan Test throughout, mainly on Channel 6.On Wednesday 6 November the Zimbabwe Cricket Union held a large Gala Dinner at the Monomotapa Hotel in Zimbabwe to celebrate Zimbabwe’s ten years of Test cricket. Ten years ago Zimbabwe played their inaugural Test match against India at Harare Sports Club, and became the first newcomers to Test cricket to avoid defeat in their inaugural Test; in fact, they dominated the match, although it ended in a draw.It had been hoped that Kapil Dev, who bowled Zimbabwe’s first ball in Test cricket (Kevin Arnott turned it to fine leg for a single), would be guest of honour, but he was unable to attend, and was replaced very effectively by Clive Lloyd, who gave an excellent speech. All of Zimbabwe’s team which played in that Inaugural Test were invited, the only absentees being Gary Crocker (who has emigrated to the USA and could not be contacted), John Traicos (unable at the last moment to come over from his home in Australia) and Grant Flower, who was with his father who is sick in Johannesburg. We wish Bill Flower the speediest of recoveries.One of the features of the evening was the Milestones Awards, which commemorated the best individual performances by Zimbabweans during those ten years. They were as follows:

Whilst their senior counterparts were putting paid to Worcestershire in the C and G at Taunton, Somerset Second XI enjoyed a successful day themselves.Batting first against Warwickshire at the Knowle and Dorridge ground at Solihull, Somerset amassed 408, with Pete Trego making 188.By the close of play Warwickshire had scored 153 for 2.

There is no experience in life that cannot be analysed, and the Pakistani cricket team’s failures are no exception. But it is more important to focus on seeking a clearer understanding of the problems involved rather than ingeniously shifting the onus of disappointments onto circumstances and individuals – a common but unproductive method of interpreting and benefiting from experience.It is wiser, therefore, not to dwell on any particular match or series. The problem is fundamental, structural and chronic, almost endemic. Pakistan have had successes in the past, but there has been no consistent pattern of achievement. Indeed, this inconsistency provides the key understanding the problem.A team relying exclusively on individual brilliance – which has its own ups and downs – and susceptible to the mood of the moment cannot succeed all the time. It is easily noticeable that most of Pakistan’s famous victories, especially against quality teams, have either been by narrow margins or by the heroic efforts of a few outstanding individuals. One of the rare examples of a truly authentic team effort was the victory at the 1992 World Cup.Cricket today is fiercely competitive because of huge sums of money involved due to television rights and commercial sponsorship. Almost every team, therefore, has been offered the chance to play top-grade cricket, but only those that have perfected a methodical and competitive way of playing the game are excelling.These sides rely on superlative fitness, modern and scientific coaching, and well-planned strategies based on technological and technical studies of opponents. It has been a delight to watch the Australian team exhibiting exceptional commitment to excellence, underpinned by an astounding sense of self-discipline, tenacity and brilliant teamwork. It made Pakistan look extremely inept in Kenya, to say the least.Pakistan have always played by different rules. The team likes to believe in the supernatural, often wanting to blunder or gamble its way to success. What transpired in the Morocco Cup or in the matches against Australia in Nairobi was nothing new for those who follow Pakistani cricket. It was merely the repetition of a familiar pattern of failure.For starters, Pakistan have no genuine coach and have never really had one. Talent invariably resists coaching, and Pakistan is indeed a very talented outfit. That has especially been the story of Pakistani cricket in recent years. Coaches are supposed to be technical experts, strategists and motivators, whether in cricket or football. One only needed to see the deeply absorbed and wrenched faces of coaches during the recent football World Cup to realise their deep involvement.The absence of good coaching in cricket, however, can be compensated to some extent by an outstanding captain, for such is the nature of the game. Except for a few high-class all-rounders and motivators – and thus coach-cum-captains such as Imran Khan, Mushtaq Mohammad and Kardar – Pakistan never boasted a captain who could claim all-round versatility and expertise.Waqar Younis is a bowler of exceptional ability, but he has an obvious shortcoming in that he cannot work out a good batting strategy since he is not a batsman. It is little wonder then that most of Pakistan’s wins during his captaincy have come about from successes in bowling and despite batting failures. Mudassar Nazar may be very personable and congenial, helping to lift team spirit – I hear he sings very well – but I am not sure if he is a great batting genius or strategist or even a motivator.With such a self-willed and highly talented team, only those coaches who have followed the path of least resistance have survived – those who do the team’s bidding. That is why people like Mudassar and Intikhab Alam have been very popular with the team, as their role has mainly been that of a friend rather of a teacher.Modern cricket cannot be run that way. Since Imran Khan’s departure most of Pakistan’s captains have been either bowlers or wicket-keepers and neither batting strategists nor inspirational leaders. The team on the batting side has therefore been entirely on its own. Its output has rested exclusively on individual talent, and we have owed our successes as much as our failures to individual performances.The biggest weakness in the batting is that there is no conscious formula for success. The batting order keeps fluctuating, so the batsmen do not develop proper affinity and understanding with each other. The running between wickets is extremely unprofessional, always unsuited to the occasion. There is little commitment to build a partnership, and equally little strategy for batting collapses and panic attacks.Strategy counts far more in one-day cricket than in Test cricket, where time allows you scope and space to devise a game plan appropriate to the challenge. Since certain vital elements count even more in a pressure situation, it explains Pakistan being a poor chaser in one-day internationals.Pakistan’s batting order suffers from a sort of domino effect, failing when least expected to. Yousuf Youhana, an exceptional talent, does not always rise to the occasion. He succeeds and fails – both unexpectedly. Inzamam-ul-Haq, one of the most accomplished batsmen in modern cricket and a sheet anchor of the team, seems to have now unfortunately decided to focus perhaps more on Test cricket than on one-day cricket – perhaps because he could not reconcile the two different techniques.Another vital point is match temperament. Pakistan do not play really competitive cricket at home, and what passes for domestic cricket is a mere apology. The administrators need to reorganise it to make it more competitive, forcing the national players to participate as well. The national stars hardly play any domestic cricket, and their participation is only cosmetic, so naturally young players, after coming into the national team, eschew domestic cricket as well.Whatever domestic cricket these players may have seen before their elevation to the top level has been of rather ordinary standards. That is another reason that Pakistan is so prone to unexplained failures. Competitiveness teaches mental toughness, and that I am afraid is missing in our otherwise talented and attractive team. But the situation is not beyond redemption, and I wish the team a great success in the future.

Somerset recorded another emphatic victory in their second pre-season warm up at the County Ground against the Somerset Board XI at the County Ground today.Batting first the county side made 363 for 6 from their 50 overs, the feature of which was an opening stand of 178 between Piran Holloway (127) and Matthew Wood (58).Cornishman Holloway, coming back into the side after missing half of last season with a shoulder injury, made an impressive return to the scene and included 5×6’s and 16×4’s in his innings during which he faced 178 balls.Ian Blackwell also looked in good form as he raced to 70 off just 26 balls, and hit 3×6’s and 10×4’s.In reply the Somerset Board XI were not overawed by their task, particularly the openers Tom Webley (69) and Kevin Sedgebeer (71) who put on 155 for the fourth wicket. Young left hander Webley looked particularly comfortable and included 12×4’s in his innings.At the end of their overs the Board XI had moved to 256 for 5 to give the Cidermen victory by 107 runs. By the close skipper Kevin Parsons had moved on to 54 and Arul Suppiah 25, having shared an unbeaten sixth wicket stand of 67.Matt Bulbeck who had figures of 6 overs, 2 maidens 2 wickets for 5 runs was once again the pick of the Somerset bowlers.After the match assistant coach Mark Garaway told me: “This was another professional performance today. It was good practice for all of and they stuck to their task well.”He continued: “It was good to see the staff boys who played for the Board XI all doing so well. Tom Webley and Arul Suppiah both batted well, and Pete Trego and Michael Parsons were the pick of their bowlers.”Tomorrow is press morning at the County Ground after which the Somerset players will listen to Academy Sports Psychologist Will James who will talk on the theme of ‘winning after winning’.

It was an odd day at the Bath Recreation Ground as in-between stoppages for rain and bad light, the game progressed, but not in a way that many of the patient crowd had expected.Somerset soon lost their overnight savour Ian Blackwell when he fell to a sucker punch, being caught by Udal at backward point off Mascarenhas. He had played exactly the same shot the ball before which went for four.Robert Turner and Keith Dutch shared a 41-run partnership at two runs per over to show some signs of recovery but when three wickets fell in quick succession, either side of a length rain break shortly after the lunch interval, Somerset captain surprised everyone at the ground, including the Hampshire fielders by declaring, 91 runs behind.The crowd were so surprised, that some of them even booed the umpires, as they thought they had been brought off for bad light!On a wicket that had been playing tricks from the first day, with overcast conditions, some thought that the boldness of the declaration was sheer folly. However, the home side took four Hampshire wickets for just three runs, before bad light curtailed play for the day.Derek Kenway was first to go when he attempted to hook Richard Johnson’s first ball into the Bath Rugby Club, but was well caught on the boundary edge. White edged Johnson to keeper Turner and when Kendall and Laney fell off successive Matthew Bulbeck deliveries, Nic Pothas survived the hat-trick ball.Hampshire finished the day, however, still in a good position, 94 runs ahead with six wicket in hand, but will be looking for a least another 100 runs which on that Bath wicket could be enough to secure a much-needed victory.

Matabeleland suffered a second defeat in the Castle Lager Logan Cup competition to Midlands over the weekend. This was probably an unexpected result given that Midlands were missing Marillier, Wishart, Price and Friend who are currently in India with the national side.Once again the question is asked, have Matabeleland the selectors capable of selecting the strongest and most balanced side for this first-class competition? One thinks and probably comes up with the answer, no.While there is the pattern of playing youngsters and giving them a chance, and the way forward, selectors do not necessarily need to do so in a four-day first-class competition. Both Hitz, who now seems to have been discarded at this stage, and Townshend, a former Academy player as well as a member of the development team that visited Kenya a couple of years ago, are better players than Mupariwa and to a lesser extent Mukondiwa.The batting line-up is weak at the prime positions of 3, 4 and 5, and this is where the lack of stability is evident and the results to date show this. A young player, Stu Walker, who is making runs consistently, has not even been considered for the squad. With Warren Gilmour leaving for the UK shortly, the vital position of wicketkeeper is now of concern. Siziba has kept wicket in the past, but is not the ideal replacement, and Walker could be the ideal player with his batting to take over.The game itself revealed the shortcomings in the batting when Matabeleland, batting first, were 68 for four within 90 minutes into a four-day game. The second innings saw Matabeleland 70 for five again in under 90 minutes, which reveals an apparent weakness that is costing the side dearly in the longer game.The highlight of the first innings was a superb century, 103 with 12 fours, by Wisdom Siziba who was unlucky to be last man out and so deprive himself of a further entry into the record books by carrying his bat for the second time, a feat he achieved on his first class debut, and scoring a century. His patience and application are an inspiration for his team-mates. In the second innings the only batsman to show any application of note was young Mike McKillop who scored 69 out of 213.As far as the bowling is concerned, only Ewing with five for 80 showed any control in a rather mediocre attack. Young Mupariwa has one for 153 in two games and Mukondiwa three for 133, also in two games, and with Townshend one for 148 in the first game, admittedly bowling to MackayWho scored his century in 46 balls, your pace attack is sadly lacking.From the Midlands team, Macmillan had a good game with both bat and ball and a call-up to the national squad should not be to far away. Duffin, the former Zimbabwe Under-19 captain, had two solid innings of 74 and 25 and looked a sound and compact opening batsman, while skipper Viljoen must be pleased with both his all-round performances and being the winning skipper.Matabeleland still have two hard matches to come, against Mashonaland A and Manicaland. One hopes the side will perform more positively for the rest of the season. . .

Barbados suffered their second successive defeat in the 2002 Regional Under-15 Cricket Competition when they were beaten by the Leeward Islands in a low-scoring match at the Queen’s Park Oval yesterday.It was a game they had to win to remain in contention for the title, but they lost by two wickets in a match that went down to the wire.The Leewards made what seemed to be a small target of 95 look like a mountain but just managed to scrape home.Openers captain Javia Liburd and Delon Skellekie put on 25 for the first wicket but the team slipped to 64 for six and then 91 for eight.Barbados’ bowlers, none moreso than the tireless Javon Searles, fought gallantly.At 84 for six, it seemed all over for Barbados, but Searles, a tall, lively fast bowling all-rounder with a level head and full of enthusiasm, returned to the attack and accounted for two wickets.It was not enough, however.Earlier, Barbados, who won the toss on a good batting pitch, were skittled out for 94 with Searles top-scoring with 24. Kerwin Elias, one of three changes to the team, made 16.Pacer Justin Athanaze, with three for 22, off-spinner Jacques Taylor (three for 27) and fast bowler Shaheed Walwyn (two for 26) did the damage for the Leewards.Barbados will oppose two-time defending champions Trinidad and Tobago today.

South Zone clinched the CK Nayudu Under-19 Trophy by virtue of the massive201-run first innings lead over Central Zone at the Barabati stadium inCuttack on Tuesday. Tamil Nadu seamer Lakshmipathy Balaji did the star turnwith a hat-trick early on the final day to help South bundle out Centralfor 176 runs in the first innings.Resuming at 169 for 6, the Central Zone innings lasted just 4.1 overs more.The fourth ball of the third over of the day saw Balaji bowl ChandrashekarAtram for a duck. Sunil Upadhay (0) who replaced Atram was caught behind byTahir Hussain off the next ball. Naveen Choudhury walked in to thwartBalaji’s efforts but he was trapped leg before and Balaji had completed thehat-trick. The innings folded up in Balaji’s next over when he shatteredthe defences of the last batsman H Shitoot (5). Balaji returned figures of6 for 57.South Zone could have enforced the follow on but they opted to bat againand piled up 313 runs before being all out shortly before the final draw ofstumps. Openers T Suman (47) and Tahir Hussain (10) were off to a flyingstart adding 42 runs off just 4.2 overs. Tahir was the first to bedismissed, caught behind by Amit Deshpande off Atram. Suman soon followedhim caught by Atram off Afroj Khan in the seventh over. Suman who played asteller role needed just 29 balls for his 47 with the innings being studdedwith nine boundary hits.Deepak Chougule (38) and Arjun Yadav (26) took the score to 127. Arjundeparted next, caught by substitute fielder Jitender off Naveen Choudhury.With only a single added to the total, Chougule fell to the samecombination in Choudhury’s next over. This brought ASK Verma (18) andStuart Binny (70) together and they forged a 74-run fifth wicket stand.Binny was the sixth batsman to be dismissed, caught behind off SurenderSingh. The South tail wagged considerably to prolong Central’s agony.Surender Singh was the most successful bowler for Central Zone with figuresof 5 for 53.South Zone now take on Rest of India in the three day Vinoo Mankad Trophymatch in Cuttack. The original dates of the match were February 1 to 3 butthe game has since been postponed indefinitely.

Warwickshire narrowly avoided the follow-on before conceding a first innings lead of 124 to Durham on a day which started and finished with career-best performances for the northerners.Paul Collingwood carried his side to a total of 329 with a towering 153 in 385 minutes and Ian Hunter wrapped up the home side’s reply for 205 by taking the last three wickets for figures of 4 for 55. Bad light then ended play with Durham 0 for 0 after 11 balls.Thirteen wickets fell on an all-action second day and Durham retained the initiative after Collingwood had squeezed a further 79 runs from the last three wickets. The all-rounder hit 20 fours and a six before popping up a simple return catch to former team-mate Melvyn Betts.Durham’s bowling was far less impressive, but Warwickshire conspired to get themselves into trouble at 49 for five. It was wasteful that two batsmen ran themselves out, though David Hemp was unlucky to find the bowler, Steve Harmison, in his path as he attempted a single to mid-off.The follow-on figure of 180 was a long way off when Neil Smith (47) and Dougie Brown (45) launched a recovery with a sixth-wicket stand of 78 against more wayward bowling by Durham’s seamers.The appearance of the off spinner, Nicky Phillips, accounted for Smith with a catch at the wicket, but Keith Piper maintained the momentum with 37 until deflecting a lifter from James Brinkley into the gully. Warwickshire then folded up as soon Brown was lbw to one that kept low from Hunter.