Rain ruins Zimbabwe practice ahead of Qualifiers

Zimbabwe have had trouble with their preparations for the ICC Women's World Cup qualifiers, with rain ruining most of their practice matches ahead of the tournament.

"The rains have proven to be a major disaster because we have not been able to follow our programme for the training sessions," Chideza Mafunga, the team manager, told the Herald, a Harare-based newspaper.

"We were supposed to have played Prince Edward School in a Twenty20 match last week and we were also supposed to have played Eaglesvale Under-16 and the women's Harare Select side. But the rains have affected the grounds and we have not been able to make it to the fields."

Mafunga said the team had managed a full training session only on Thursday. "We took the chance to look at the batting, fielding, and bowling departments."

In contrast, the team had organised a three-week camp in November last year when the tournament was scheduled to be held in Pakistan. Political unrest in the country forced the ICC to move the qualifiers to South Africa.

Zimbabwe leave for South Africa on February 16 and Mafunga was hopeful they would have useful practice before leaving. "We are also hoping that we will play as many matches as possible with schools like Churchill, Eaglesvale and Prince Edward because it has been difficult to follow the programme."

Zimbabwe have been grouped in Pool B alongside Pakistan, Ireland and Scotland. Their first match of the tournament is against Scotland on February 18.