Simply winning or losing won’t matter for Zim and SA

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Cape Town

SOMETIMES, one-day cricket is not all about winning and losing. On Thursday, when Zimbabwe play SA in Harare, is one of those times.

Australia are already in Saturday’s final. Whether their opponents will be Zimbabwe or SA will be decided on Thursday.

But to keep SA out of the final the home side will need to do more than win. They will have to achieve what they never have in an ODI against a major team.

If they bat first, Zimbabwe will need to win by around 133 runs. If they chase, they will have to be in the pub after about 24 overs. The exact targets will not be known before the end of the first innings.

Either way, the odds on SA being eliminated on Thursday are about as long as the Zambezi River.

Zimbabwe have won 113 of their 422 completed ODIs, but only 10 of those successes have been clinched by 133 or more runs: five of them at the expense of Kenya, two against Canada, and one each over Bermuda and Ireland.

The closest Zimbabwe have come to toppling a proper side by so wide a margin is when they won by 192 runs in Nairobi in October, 1997 ... against Bangladesh.

Neither have Zimbabwe yet chased down a target in 24 overs against decent opposition, although they came close by scoring 139/2 in 25.5 to beat India in Bulawayo in February, 1997.

Once, Zimbabwe won by roaring to 136/1 in 16 overs. Trouble is, that Bulawayo game in December, 2008 was against Kenya.

So, even defeat on Thursday is unlikely to deny SA a showdown with the Aussies on Saturday. There is almost no danger of AB de Villiers’ team coming unstuck. Almost...

“Zimbabwe are a threat,” the ever polite Du Plessis said. “They play well in these conditions and they prepare wickets that suit them - we’re expecting a slow turner.”

Sometimes, teams like Zimbabwe do get it together. They did on Sunday, when they beat Australia by three wickets - the same Aussies who dealt SA a 62-run snotklap on Tuesday.

That said, SA did not blink in the face of their target of 328 against Australia last Wednesday. With eyes wide shut, they won by seven wickets with 20 balls to spare.

The key to that victory was a stand of 206 between AB de Villiers, who scored an undefeated 136, and Faf du Plessis, who made 106.

But even centuries do not guarantee success against quality outfits like Australia, who overcame Du Plessis scoring 126 against them on Tuesday.

And it is sides like Australia, rather than Zimbabwe, who are firmly in SA’s sights as they prepare for the elephant that will be in the room in Australasia next February and March.

“As a one-day team building up to the World Cup you want to play against the best teams because it gives you the best practice for a big tournament like that,” Du Plessis said. “Even when we beat Australia we weren’t playing at 100%.

“So we’re not there yet, but there’s lots of time to fine tune in areas that we need to.”

It is not all about winning and losing on Thursday, then. But it will be on Saturday.