Utseya fancies chances

Zimbabwe captain Prosper Utseya has talked up his sides chances of reaching the Super Eights, pointing at the inconsistency of Group D opponents Pakistan and the West Indies as an area to exploit.

Utseya told reporters on the eve of the cup that he expects chinks in the armour of the more fancied sides which his team could benefit from. “The West Indies and Pakistan, they are not consistent, so if we can capitalise on that we could do well,” stated the 21 year-old.

This World Cup is predicted to be a disaster for the Zimbabweans, who have struggled since the last World Cup, when Henry Olonga and Andy Flower became the first of a number of players to turn their back on the country through boycotts and strikes. Four years on, and associate nation Ireland are expected to beat Zimbabwe by some. However, Utseya is confident, retorting “with Ireland, they have not played much of international cricket and we expect to do well against them.”

Utseya is also assured his young team can put their problems behind them, and was pleased by their warmup performances. “We are now used to the situation, so we will have to face the challenge.”

“We have been working hard for the past two months. We played Bangladesh in a five-match series and did well in some games. We played Australia and managed to get a 190 and took some positives out of that game. We played Bermuda and I think we won quite convincingly and I think we are moving in the right direction.”