Zimbabwe ‘hurting’ after squandering golden chance

KARACHI: Zimbabwe’s Chamu Chibhabha believes his team-mates will have to lean to capitalize on the momentum if the hosts are to turn the tables on visiting Pakistan.
The Zimbabweans were in a dominant position after restricting Pakistan to 136-8 in their first twenty20 International in Harare on Sunday but went on to lose the match by 13 runs.
In his post-match comments, Chibhabha admitted that the hosts were “hurting” after allowing the series opener to slip out of their hands.
Chibhabha’s impressive showing with the ball had helped to keep Pakistan to 136 for 8 on a dry pitch, but Zimbabwe could manage only 123 for 9 in reply with left-arm spinner Imad Wasim taking 4 for 11.
“There are so many ways you can look at it, but a lot of us got out to soft dismissals,” he said. “We took the wrong options at the wrong time, and as a result we lost the game. I’m not going to sit here and make excuses, at the end of the day we were chasing 137 and, despite how well they bowled and how well their spinner bowled, it’s just a score that you need to get. We were supposed to get that score, with the kind of players we have.
“Everyone is hurting. We want to improve quickly. We don’t want to be the same sort of players that always get close but don’t win matches. When we played the first match (ODI) against India, we lost by three or four runs. Today we lost by 13 runs. It’s not good enough. It’s time to start winning games, especially when you get opportunities like this.
“Moving forward, it’s not every day that you get to chase 137 in a T20 game against Pakistan. It’s really disappointing from us as players, especially the batting unit. If you want to win games, we have to execute.
“In a way [the pitch suited me],” he said. “It was a bit slow, and it wasn’t easy to bat on. I just had to mix it up, change my lengths, and today it turned out well. The conditions suited me, but this also has a lot to do with hard work and practice paying off. I bring a bit of a balance into the team, I can bat and also bowl a few overs for the team. My bowling came right today. Hopefully I’ll have more days like this with the ball.”