The regular skipper of Zimbabwe Craig Ervine returns to the team after an injury absence along with Tendai Chatara, Wellington Masakadza and Milton Shumba. However, their side will rely heavily on Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl to take them to the next round.
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Zimbabwe are on rank 11 which is higher than two of their first-round group opponents – Ireland who are on rank 12 and Scotland on rank 15 – with Caribbean side the West Indies placed on rank 7 the only team they will face in the opening round with a higher team ranking.
The men in red can be expected to finish in the top two of their group and at the very least qualify for the Super 12 stage.
“We need to come in the top two for us to qualify for the next round, As far as I am concerned, we should be looking at winning that pool and I do not see anybody in that pool who we cannot beat on a good day,” said the Zimbabwe coach Dave Houghton
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Squad:
Craig Ervine (c), Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva, Milton Shumba, Sean Williams, Tendai Chatara, Bradley Evans, Luke Jongwe, Clive Madande, Wesley Madhevere, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Sikandar Raza.
Standby Players: Tanaka Chivanga, Innocent Kaia, Kevin Kasuza, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Victor Nyauchi.
Fixtures:Â
v Ireland (October 17), Bellerive Oval, Hobart
v West Indies (October 19), Bellerive Oval, Hobart
v Scotland (October 21) Bellerive Oval, Hobart   Â
Key Players:
Sikandar Raza – The star all-rounder is one of the form white-ball players in the entire world and the 36-year-old will need to fire if Zimbabwe are going to reach the Super 12 stage.
Raza was named Player of the Tournament during Zimbabwe’s unbeaten Qualifier B campaign and three ODI centuries during the month of August. Raza also bowls some handy off-spin, so expect the veteran to shine with both bat and ball in Austra.
Ryan Burl – He is another Zimbabwean All-Rounder, who can single-handedly win a game for his time with his powerful hitting, he is also an important spinner in the lineup.
He is been in some good form lately and will want to replicate it in the upcoming T20 World Cup Qualifiers.
Results in the last 10 games:
(Most recent first): W L W W W W W W L L
