Posted by   on (November 1, 2011, 12:30 GMT)

I believe Zim wil give a good account of themselves,its going to be tough but it can be done with Taylor,Waller,Mawoyo and Chigumbura putting a good perfomance,i think we wil win.Good Luck guys.

There seems to be a lot of excitement building around ZIM. Not sure why? NZ beaten in a one dayer where two main bowlers (Mills & Southee) were absent posted a decent target and two centurians for little wickets lost and a scrambling Zimbabwe got home against some debutants and other average bowling.

With Martin bowling a heavy ball at a good pace swinging and Vettori bedazzling Zimbabweans we can look to have this at the most wrapped up within four days.

At least for Zimbabweans you can look forward to Brendan Taylor and his batting but one man does not make a team.

Great news that Taibu is out, he is one of the few Zimbabweans that can actually field and is a real live wire, even the captain at times looks like he is playing social league cricket.

Dissappointed that big Jesse Ryder is out. On what should be a good batting strip if he can score a double hundy against India then if NZ batted first he could probably get in excess of 500 by himself...........

Posted by   on (October 31, 2011, 20:14 GMT)

@ back to back hundreds in ODIs that is

Posted by   on (October 31, 2011, 19:56 GMT)

@Nduru Well Andy Flower never scored back to back hundreds and they never chased down 328, so this could be the birth of the greatest era in Zim cricket...Have faith...

@Taurai, I hope you are right. No one would be happier to see my team beat NZ in this test. But remember, our strongest team with Andy Flower and co has never beaten NZ in a test, so forgive me for being a bit sceptical that it will be so easy to do it this time. I think its great that Waller is geven a chance as he has real talent and passion, and cool head.

Posted by   on (October 31, 2011, 17:21 GMT)

@Nduru Zimbabwe is a great side...Nuin much separates the two sides in terms of talent...Test cricket is a game of mental temperance...If the lads are up for it mentally they will succeed....And lets not forget this is a contest, there will be a winner and a loser...If they lose its ok life goes on, there will be lessons leant in the process making them better...I will stick to my guns Zimbabwe will take this one, a Taylor hundred and something special from Vusi and Malcolm make my words..

it is very sad that Zimbabwe will be taking on New Zealand without our strike bowler Vitori. its going to be hard but i think the great discipline in batting shown during the last O.D.I if it is carried over into the test match then its an easy win. the major problem we face is losing wickets if Allan Butcher can address that then we good to go. lets be optimistic and place our bet for a win not a draw.

Disappointing to see that Vitori is not playing in the test, would have loved to see him bowl at Taylor an co. I think Waller is a more than capable replacement for Taibu- hopefully chigumbura should be as stable as in the last ODI. Mawoyo should open with Vusi with Taylor coming in at three , masakadza in at four- Jarvis and Meth with mpofu opening. The 300+ chase showed zim could compete and win playing against the new Zealand quicks but the introduction of the slow othordox Vettori could present a challenge given his performance in the warm up match. I predict a tight victory in zims favour- they should just get there. New zealand will bat first and post 270 with zim taking a first innings lead that the black caps won't be able to overhaul. Taylor will make a second innings 100 mawoyo will get a first innings 100 with Waller weighing in with a ton as well- prosper will be there at the end with 5 wkts

Posted by   on (October 31, 2011, 13:30 GMT)

It's a shame....we'll miss seeing Vitori vs. Vettori

Posted by   on (October 31, 2011, 13:22 GMT)

losing vitori is pretty much blow for zimbos.They need to take 20 wickets to win this.