Sikandar Raza criticised Zimbabwe’s batting after the seven-wicket loss to India in the first T20I, saying the performance was “not up to the standard.”
Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza laments poor batting effort after defeat to India in the first T20I at the Harare Sports Club in Harare on Thursday. Photo credit: IANS
Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza admitted his side’s batting fell well short of expectations after a seven-wicket defeat to India in the opening T20I, saying the hosts failed to cope with the challenging early conditions at the Harare Sports Club on Thursday.
After being put in to bat, Zimbabwe slumped to 32/4 inside the powerplay before recovering to post 125/7, a total India chased down comfortably with 40 balls to spare to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
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Reflecting on the performance, Raza said Zimbabwe’s batting display was simply not good enough.
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“Again, not up to the standard, I think. In the morning, I think that moisture certainly played a part, but I didn’t think it was going to play a part for that long.
“I thought it remained tough with the new ball. Unfortunately, we didn’t hit many boundaries up front as well, so the ball stayed new, and because of that, I felt the movement off the deck made batting even tougher,” Raza said after the match.
The Zimbabwe skipper felt the conditions became significantly easier once India began their chase and hoped the next pitch would offer a more even contest regardless of the toss.
“During the Bangladesh ODI series, there was a lot of moisture, and it remained there for a long time. Whereas today, I thought the moisture was there for the first eight to ten or even 12 overs, and apart from that, when India came out to bat, the wicket was very true.
“Hopefully we get a better wicket for the next game so that even when we lose the toss, it doesn’t play too big a part.”
Despite the defeat, Raza took positives from the efforts of Wessly Madhevere and Tadiwanashe Marumani, whose partnership helped Zimbabwe recover from a shaky start.
Madhevere top-scored with 39, while Marumani remained unbeaten on 27, lifting the hosts to a respectable total after the early collapse.
“That’s one of the positives. Marumani and Madhevere, it’s a new role as well. I thought they batted really well to give us some sort of a respectable total.
“We’ll take that as a positive, and hopefully the other guys can chip in as well so that we can put up a competitive total if we bat first.”
Zimbabwe will now look to bounce back in the second T20I and level the three-match series.
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