BY FIRDOSE MOONDA
It doesn’t have quite the same hype as the Trans-Tasman or subcontinent derbies, but the meeting of two southern African neighbours has all the makings of a classic match-up.
There’s an obvious favourite: South Africa, who have never lost a T20I to Zimbabwe and only been defeated by them in two ODIs. One of those was at the 1999 ODI World Cup, where the result had a direct bearing on South Africa’s opponents in the semi-final, and we all know what happened there.
So, Zimbabwe have some claim to being noisy neighbours, determined to cause an upset, even if their last decade has been quiet.
They haven’t appeared at an ICC event in six years and have not made it to what we can call “the main section” of a T20 World Cup since 2012, before a first round was introduced.
In that time, they’ve gone through administrative crises that only South Africa can rival. Zimbabwe Cricket was temporarily suspended from the ICC and so could not compete in qualification for the 2021 T20 World Cup.
Cricket South Africa have previously been banned by their sports minister from bidding for or hosting major events as punishment for the slow pace of transformation and had a board directive to collectively take a knee imposed on them at last year’s tournament.
The T20 World Cup presents an opportunity for both teams to demonstrate a turning of the page, so to speak.
For South Africa, it’s their last event under coach Mark Boucher, who will leave to take charge of Mumbai Indians, and therefore a culmination of his work with the squad. Anything less than advancement to the knockouts will not be received well at home.
For Zimbabwe, it’s their first major tournament under coach Dave Houghton, who has brought back the element of fun and given the players freedom to play without fearing the consequences of making mistakes.
He has tasked them with “doing some damage,” in the Super 12s, while being realistic of their chances of progression to the knockouts. For both teams the journey starts here where South Africa have everything to lose but Zimbabwe, everything to gain. – CrickInfo