ZIMBABWE

Zimbabwe Cricket Team is a national team that plays cricket for Zimbabwe. The team was very dominant in the 1990s and produced match winners throughout that decade. Andy Flower, Henry Olanga, Duncan Fletcher, Sikandar Raxa are some of the popular players from the country. However, due to bankruptcy and politics, the team could not play cricket in the 200s.

Zimbabwe Early Days

Zimbabwe received Test status from the ICC in July 1992. They played thier first Test match against India at Harare Sports Club in October of that same year. They became the ninth Test-playing nation.

Prior to receiving Test status, Zimbabwe, formerly known as Rhodesia until 1980, had a national cricket team.  Zimbabwe’s first World Cup campaign in 1983 came to an end at the group stage. They won only one out of their 6 matches.  owever, they threw a surprise against Australia. Batting first,  Zimbabwe reached 239 for 6 in the allotted 60 overs. Captain Duncan Fletcher lead the way with 69 not out. Fletcher then recorded a shocking upset in cricket history. Zimbabwe restricted Australia to 226 for 7. Fletcher bowled a match winning spell of 4 for 42.This was his career best figures.

Early Test performances by Zimbabwe were usually poor. This raised the question that they had been given Test status too soon. The team only triumphed once in their first 30 Test matches, defeating Pakistan at home in early 1995. But the team quickly established itself as competitive. They were a fierce side in the One Day International format. Their fielding prowess helped them win recognition around the world in particular.

At the 1999 Cricket World Cup, Zimbabwe did well. They finishied fifth in the Super Sixes. The team narrowly missed out on a semi-final spot because of a lower net run rate than New Zealand.

From 2003 to 2011, there was a crisis in Zimbabwean cricket. This led to very bad national team performances as a result of player withdrawals like Andy Flower and Henry Olonga’s “Black-armband protest”. Hence, this led to a large player loss in 2004 as a result of a general strike.



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