KIWIS SCARED OF ZIMBABWE

Last night, when I shut off the West Indies - Zimbabwe live scorecard to get some sleep, West Indies was 87 for 0 in 20 overs - Chris Gayle batting on 52* (60b 2x4 3x6) and Adrian Barath on 31* (61b 4x4). By the sound of Cricinfo commentary, both batsmen seemed to have adjusted to the pace of the wicket as well as the Zimbabwean spinners.

I knew that on such a pitch, with required rate at 5.60 and a dozen spinners in the opposition ranks, West Indies will not have it easy, especially once new batsmen come in. But I'd be lying if I said that I expected them to lose the game. In fact, when I pulled the blanket over myself, I was actually confident of a win for the Caribbean team.

So, that's the second time in less than a week when I have shut a West Indies - Zimbabwe live scorecard expecting the hosts to win, from where they have somehow contrived to lose the plot and match... and well, make me doubt my 'prediction' abilities.

The Zimbabwean team has sent strong warning signals to Sri Lanka and New Zealand, the other two teams who will make up Group B in the World Twenty20 Championship to be held in the Caribbean islands in May. I think New Zealand will be worried by the performance of this African nation.

The Kiwis are not as good at playing spin as the Sri Lankans. And both, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, place a lot of reliance on their spinners. Sri Lanka, having reached the finals of the ODI World Cup held here 3 years ago, will be quietly confident with this memory. And Zimbabwe would want to prove a point after they did not get a chance to feature in the previous version of the Twenty20 World Cup held in England.

Do we have an upset on hand?