Windies looking for revival against Zimbabwe in one-off T20I

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Beleaguered West Indies will try to rise above their vexing recent tour Down Under when they face minnows Zimbabwe in a one-off Twenty20 International here today.

Demoralised by the Aussies after being whitewashed in both the one-day and the Twenty20 series,  the hosts have a chance to revive themselves in the 14:00 h contest at the Queen’s Park Oval.

Denesh Ramdin, who will lead the side in the absence of the rested Chris Gayle, said he was confident his charges could put up a good showing despite the ragged stuff against Australia.

“The Australian series was very difficult and we must move on. Tomorrow (Sunday) we start a new series and we are confident of doing well,” said Ramdin who is leading West Indies in his third T20I.

“We met with our new coach Ottis Gibson on Friday evening and he told us that we must put the past behind us and move on. We are looking to the future and with the new coach on board we are looking forward to great things.”

The match, a precursor to the five-match One-Day International series against Zimbabwe, will be a new beginning of sorts for West Indies as it represents Gibson’s first game in charge of the side he once played for.

Also, it is the first international of the home series which includes the Twenty20 World Cup and the Test tour by South Africa later in the year.

Ramdin said despite the nature of the opposition, West Indies would not be complacent.

“We are not going to relax knowing that we are facing Zimbabwe and not Australia,” said the 24-year-old wicketkeeper.

“We will not be taking them lightly and we are going to try our best in this series. They are a competitive side and we intend to play hard cricket.”

The match will showcase some of the region’s best young batting talent with Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo and Kieron Pollard all selected for the encounter.

Both Barath and Bravo will be making their T20 debut while Pollard can be considered seasoned in this format. They will join with veteran left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul and the explosive Dwayne Smith to form the basis of the batting.

Speed sensation Kemar Roach will lead an attack that includes Ravi Rampaul, Darren Sammy and left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn who is returning from injury.

With Gayle’s fireworks missing at the top of the order, Ramdin hinted that he may even move up to open the innings.

“I have always said that I love to open and when the opportunity presents itself, I hope to take advantage of it,” the right-hander said. “You never know what can happen.”

Ramdin’s opposite number Prosper Utseya said that winning against the West Indies would make the world watch Zimbabwe again.

“Our players come here on the back of some good performances back home and once we get things right, we can beat the West Indies,” said the 24-year-old off-spinner.

“If we achieve a win against the West Indies the world will start looking at Zimbabwe again and this is what we want. We are making good strides in the one-day game and we hope to be back playing Test cricket in the not too distant future.”

Utseya added that Zimbabwe were prepared to be patient against the Windies during the upcoming series and said their win against the UWI Vice-Chancellor’s XI on Friday had been a good outing.

“The game was a good run for us but it showed we are not at the best right now,” Utseya said.

“The guys are coming along in terms of adjusting to playing in a different country and they have more or less done that already and are raring to go.”

Zimbabwe currently only play the shorter forms of the game after their Test status was suspended four years ago.

SQUADS:

WEST INDIES – Denesh Ramdin (captain), Adrian Barath, Sulieman Benn, David Bernard, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Andre Fletcher, Nikita Miller, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Dwayne Smith.

ZIMBABWE – Prosper Utseya (captain), Hamilton Masakadza, Elton Chigumbura, Charles Coventry, Graeme Cremer, Kyle Jarvis, Greg Lamb, Timycen Maruma, Shingirai Masakadza, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Chris Mpofu, Ray Price, Vusi Sibanda, Tatenda Taibu, Brendan Taylor.

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