THE Zimbabwe cricket team will be looking to cause another major upset and bow out in style when they take on a Virat Kohli powered India in their final ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Super-12 match at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Australia this morning.
Zimbabwe produced one of the biggest upsets at the tournament when they beat Asian giants Pakistan by one run more than a week ago to raise hopes of qualifying to a first World Cup semi-finals.
But underwhelming performances against Bangladesh and the Netherlands saw the Chevrons’ dream crashing with a big thud.
Only a miracle can take Zimbabwe to the semi-final but they can still play party poppers for the 2007 Champions who are looking to grab one of the two last four slots in the group that also comprises South Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Netherlands.
Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine challenged his players to lift for the big occasion and play the role of spoilsport in knocking India out of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
"With the win against Pakistan, it's given us a huge amount of belief that we can beat any side in the tournament. I don't think that will change going into tomorrow's game," Ervine said yesterday.
The Chevrons’ biggest asset is the bowling attack, which has dominated most innings at the global showpiece notably in the dramatic one run triumph over Pakistan.
Ervine wants his players to repeat their performance when they take on India in front of a crowd that is expected to nudge close to 90,000 at the MCG.
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Zimbabwe's pace attack will surely be tested against top tier batters in the mould of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and the current number one batsman in the format Suryakumar Yadav.
Kohli is currently the second highest run scorer in the tournament with 220 runs in four innings, three behind Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis, who has played eight matches after his side was involved in the first round.
Blessing Muzarabani will once again lead the Zimbabwe pacers and the beanpole quick has been a revelation at the T20 World Cup so far to sit tied for second for most wickets with 11 scalps.
Fellow seamer Richard Ngarava has eight wickets of his own, while star all-rounder Sikandar Raza has chimed in with nine scalps to go with his team-high 185 runs, and Ervine sees great opportunity for his team against India.
"This is a great opportunity to bowl against some of the best guys in the world, so there's no reason why guys would not want to actually get out there and produce the goods," he said.
"How often do you get the opportunity to put Virat Kohli in your pocket? I'm pretty sure that our fast bowlers will be raring to go come tomorrow."
And while Ervine would love nothing more than getting the key wicket of Kohli cheaply, he knows that will be a tough ask for his side given the current form of the former India captain who has only been dismissed once in four innings at this T20 World Cup.
"I don't think we have any plans against Virat. I think he's just too good a player,” Ervine said.
"A lot of the guys you can dissect so many different theories, and at the end of the day, if you come out and hit a good area, use your change-ups, all those sort of things, I don't think that special plans really work for these guys because they're so good at adapting to different conditions and different situations," he said.
The Chevrons have beaten India twice in seven attempts in T20 cricket first by runs in the second of a drawn two-match series in Harare and a two run victory in a three-match series at the same venue a year later.
Only England, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka are yet to suffer a defeat against Zimbabwe in T20 cricket.
The match starts at 10 am.
