ZCU President's XI v England XI

Played at Harare Sports Club, Sunday 1 December 1996

By John Ward

On a hot, sunny day in Harare, the ZCU President's XI handsomely defeated the England touring team by five wickets with more than four overs to spare. A crowd which built up from about two hundred to perhaps nearer 2000 in the afternoon enjoyed a fine victory by a team composed of five regular Test players, some fringe players and some young hopefuls.

When Alistair Campbell won the toss for the home side, he had two opposing thoughts to consider. On the one hand, any life to be found in the HSC pitch invariably comes during the first hour, favouring the side bowling first. On the other hand, Zimbabwean teams have a very poor record of chasing targets. Campbell decided to be positive and put the tourists in to bat, taking a chance on his team's ability to chase a target. This proved to be a wise decision.

John Traicos and his selection panel have a more enjoyable question than usual to answer before the start of the Test series, provided all players are fit: "Which pace bowlers can we afford to leave out?" Normally the three chosen would be Heath Streak, Henry Olonga and Bryan Strang, but now both `Pommy' Mbangwa and Eddo Brandes come strongly into the reckoning. Everton Matambanadzo is injured and assumed to be out of the reckoning for the present.

Today, Eddo Brandes pushed his claims further. Looking fitter perhaps than he has ever been, even at the age of 33, he has bowled very well in the Logan Cup matches and now started England on their slide towards defeat. He took a couple of overs to warm up; he tends to overdo the short stuff but is not fast enough normally to intimidate, and his first ball was handomely pulled through midwicket for four by Nick Knight. But, as Brandes warmed to his task, Knight found himself too late on the pull and skied a ball towards the silly mid-off position. Several eager fielders converged on it, all calling, the bowler included; Grant Flower from gully was in pole position, and he held on to it as Brandes barged into him.

Mike Atherton came in and immediately there was an extremely confident and genuine appeal for a catch at the wicket. Atherton stood his ground, and the fielders restrained themselves as umpire Kevan Barbour was likewise unmoved. But next ball they believed justice to be done, as Atherton played hesitantly and popped the ball up towards silly mid-on, for Bryan Strang to come racing in and take a diving catch.

Brandes was now bowling with real purpose, and Graham Thorpe also fell, beaten and bowled playing down the wrong line. Brandes' first spell was 6-1-16-3 before he was rested.

Drinks were taken with England struggling at 40/3 after 17 overs (Stewart on 17, Hussain on 5).

A couple of powerful cover drives from Hussain got the score moving, and the two batsmen placed their ones and twos well, but were never really able to dominate. Stewart held the innings together, not reaching his fifty until the 35th over, but occasionally producing a class pull shot.

Drinks were taken again after 37 overs, with England on 111/3, exactly three runs an over, with Stewart on 50 and Hussain 35.

Brandes' second spell (2 overs for 15 runs) was more expensive, as the Englishmen sought to increase the scoring rate. He was pulled and cut for four by Hussain when he pitched short, while Stewart hit Guy Whittall for a six over wide long-on and then flicked Brandes, with perfect timing, over the square-leg boundary for another six. The match looked to be slipping away from Zimbabwe when Hussain slashed hard but uppishly, and Grant Flower at backward point flung himself to his left to hang on to a fine catch. The fourth-wicket stand had been worth 133.

Stewart went to his century with a powerful straight drive off Brandes, but was then caught at the wicket from a skier off a rather agricultural stroke in a final effort to improve the mediocre scoring rate. Jack Russell finished the innings with a powerful drive through midwicket to the boundary, but England's total was not a particularly good one, especially with five wickets in hand. In retrospect, it seemed that Stewart and Hussain had spent too long in wary consolidation. Brandes' initial breakthrough had been invaluable for the Zimbabweans and the tourists never really recovered as far as the run rate was concerned.

Cynical it may sound, but with their past record no Zimbabwean team can be considered favourites when chasing anything other than a very small target. Still, this is part of the learning process, and every success builds confidence and helps to breed further success.

Kallin Davies, aged 18 and playing in his first match against international opposition, initially found it hard to put bat to ball, but Grant Flower looked confident from the start, stabbing and then driving Andy Caddick through the covers for two boundaries in his first over. Davies was just settling in, though, when he was run out, called by Grant Flower for a perhaps unnecessarily quick single and failing to beat a direct hit on the stumps from Hussain, who flung himself full length from point in the effort. He was replaced by Danie Erasmus, a hitherto rather colourless middle-order batsman who in the past rarely took the eye and was in fact unable to find a place in the Logan Cup team this season. First ball, Erasmus drove Mullally handsomely through extra cover for four, a confident and almost startling stroke from this batsman.

Mullally looked England's best bowler on this day, bowling with accuracy and forcing the batsman to play. At the other end, Caddick, despite changing ends, could not find his rhythm. Croft was tidy, but Tufnell suffered considerable punishment, and Atherton had to use Thorpe as a sixth bowler later in the innings. But no bowler seemed to trouble Erasmus, whose innings was a revelation. He knew when to wait patiently, but he was always ready to attack positively, displaying most of the strokes in the book with flair. On 5 he offered a difficult caught and bowled to Caddick, above his head, a straight drive that would have run for four had not the bowler's hand cut it down to two. A couple of potential boundaries were superbly fielded by Stewart, probably England's best fielder of the day.

Grant Flower, after some confident attacking strokes, was out when he appeared to shape for the pull, checked his stroke, and ended up hitting a simple catch to Caddick at mid-on.

Drinks were taken at 62/2 after 16 overs, with Erasmus on 25 and Campbell 1.

With his young partner in such fine form, Campbell was generally content to play within himself and bat responsibly, with the target of 212 always in mind. His team's scoring rate was always about four per over, so there was no pressure to speed things up. Erasmus swept Tufnell with contempt for six and then lofted him straight for four; he then turned his attention to Croft as England's two spinners bowled in tandem, and hit him over the long-on boundary for six. On reaching his fifty, there was an appeal for a catch at the wicket which was rejected by the umpire; this roused the ire of the crowd as the England fielders, whether they believed it a genuine dismissal or not, went up in a song-and-dance of celebration clearly aimed at influencing the umpire unduly. Erasmus responded by sweeping Tufnell for another six, but was finally caught at deep midwicket by Thorpe. The third wicket had fallen at 126, with the statistics in favour of a home side victory, but history urging a cautious prediction.

The cheap dismissal of Andy Flower could have been a serious blow; he backed away slightly in an attempt to force the ball on the off side, but was yorked. Guy Whittall, however, was in good fighting form, and was soon playing with aggression.

Drinks were taken again at 135/4 after 33 overs, with Campbell on 23 and Whittall 3.

Whittall was the more enterprising of the two, pulling and driving vigorously, with Campbell content to keep the score moving and producing the occasional fine drive, especially on the off side. But it was Campbell who fell eventually, skying a lofted drive to Thorpe at mid-off.

Craig Evans came in with victory in sight; he is one of those batsmen who often scorns singles and considers runs unmanly unless scored in boundaries. He unleashed a ferocious straight drive which bisected his partner and the umpire almost before either could moved, and then hit the luckless Caddick for a powerful six over his head. The crowd invaded the field, much to the excitement of a large number of security guards who swarmed on to the first to approach the square like a string of ants pouncing on a tasty morsel, while the batsmen left the field in triumph. It had been a thoroughly deserved victory, and England played well short of their best. Stewart was the Man of the Match, but Zimbabwe's main heroes were Brandes and Erasmus.