UNBELIEVABLY PATHETIC

I know that the majority of cricket watching public was happy and satisfied with the New Zealand - Australia Twenty20 International yesterday. And unaware about the West Indies - Zimbabwe Twenty20 International that also took place.

In my last blog, which was written when the WI-Zim match had just begun, I was praising Sulieman Benn's 3rd best match haul in T20Int of 4 for 6. But by the time the Zimbabwean innings ended, Benn's effort had been relegated to 4th best by team mate Darren Sammy, who returned with 4 for 26 in his 3.5 overs.

And then started the pathetic show. West Indies batted out entire 20 overs chasing a target of 106. Blasphemous! 106 should be chased down in 10 overs. Why bat the entire 20?

But hang on, West Indies managed just 79 for 7 in 20. What!? Thank God Chris Gayle was rested for the match. He would have quit cricket! I am scared for Mumbai Indians. Their star recruits, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, scored 1 run between them in 5 balls, both falling to Greame Cremer, an unknown Zimbabwean leg spinner. May be Cremer should have been recruited by the IPL franchisees - would have saved them buckets of bucks!

Getting back to the point, isn't it truly and mind - bogglingly pathetic that a team with that bats out 20 overs in a Twenty20 match ends up with just a measly 79 runs for 7 wickets (run rate 3.95) with their captain-wicketkeeper-batsman Denesh Ramdin unbeaten in the end for a heroic 23 off 37 balls! I mean, this kind of performance truly puts India's run rate of 4.20 in the Eden Gardens Test into perspective.

Nevertheless, the result was a great one for Zimbabwe, though it does nothing to hide the fact that they are woefully lacking capable batsmen. I definitely believe that revival of Zimbabwean cricket and their re-entry into Test cricket will be hugely beneficial for the game. They have produced some outstanding cricketers in the past - my favourites being Heath Streak and Andy Flower.

With Streak and Andy's brother Grant Flower having assumed coaching responsibilities with the national team now, Zimbabwean cricket is certainly taking steps in the right direction. Lets hope that the win over West Indies is a sign of the good times that lie ahead.