Zimbabwe vs West Indies preview

A series which has raised many a question gets underway on Friday with the West Indies bringing their strongest squad to pit their skills against a Zimbabwe squad teeming with confidence after a comfortable 10 wicket win over a South African Composite XI.

Christopher Gayle has been handed the Windies captaincy duties for the tour, a job he has previously been itching for. He will have the five ODI’s to prove his worth in the position. The only issue Zimbabwe can hope is that the captaincy will affect his batting, which happens more often than not with new captains. However if Gayle is on song then the small parks of Harare and Bulawayo shall offer no resistance to his batting armory.
The usual suspects for the Windies include Shiv Chanderpaul, Ganga and Bravo, all of whom must pull their weight on a tour they should have no doubt in winning.

Zimbabwe however should probably feel they have the best chance in a few years of winning a series outside Bangladesh. The surprise return of off-spinner Raymond Price will bolster Zimbabwe’s bowling meanwhile Chris Mpofu and Sean Williams have both recovered from niggling injuries which have sidelined them for the past 3 weeks. Zimbabwe will have a full pool of 19 players to choose from which should adequatly cover all issues Robin Brown should face.

Both sides are currently in Harare in preparation for the first ODI beginning 30th November. Each camp will fancy their chances against each other, and Prosper Utseya really must get behind his side if they are to cause an upset. Zimbabwe certainly have the momentum going into the first match after their win last week whereas the Windies will be match rusty so it’s imperative for them to be up for each match with 100% commitment.

Zimbabwe Squad :

Prosper Utseya (captain), Gary Brent, Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Elton Chigumbura, Graeme Cremer, Keith Dabengwa, Terrence Duffin, Trevor Garwe, Blessing Mahwire, Timycen Maruma, Hamilton Masakadza, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Christopher Mpofu, Tawanda Mupariwa, Raymond Price, Vusimuzi Sibanda, Tatenda Taibu, Brendan Taylor and Sean Williams.

West Indies :

Christopher Gayle (captain), Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Fidel Edwards, Rawl Lewis, Runako Morton, Brenton Parchment, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Ravindarnath Rampaul, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith and Jerome Taylor.

Cricketweb series prediction :

Zimbabwe 1 : 4 West Indies