As everyone is busy in following India Vs West Indies and England Vs Sri Lanka matches, I bet very few of us are aware of the ongoing tri-series in Zimbabwe featuring the host nation along with two giants of cricket: Australia and South Africa. Wait, did we miss something? We forgot to mention that it's A-teams of respective countries and not the senior sides. No wonder many of us didn't know about the existence of this tournament.
Zimbabwe team comprises of most of its senior players and thus playing under the name of Zimbabwe XI. Both Australia A and South Africa A have the young talents who have inconsistently played in the senior side and bunch of other highly promising players. Good to see Jacques Rudolph back in action as a captain of South Africa. A highly talented player who hasn't got enough exposure despite having the dream start of his career. He is supported by some well known names like David Miller, Rusty Theron and Roelof van der Merwe. But both South Africa and Zimbabwe appear weak in front of star-studded Australia A side featuring Tim Paine in a dual role of captain and wicketkeeper, David Warner, Callum Ferguson, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, and Mitchell Marsh.
Till date, two ODI matches have taken place with Australia A winning in both occasions. Brief scorecard is below:
1st Match : Zimbabwe XI vs Australia A , Harare (29 June, 2011)
Toss won by Australia A, choose to bat
1st Inning
Aus A 232/8 (50 overs)
Maddinson 63 (81) Mpofu 31/3
Ferguson 52 (67)
2nd Inning
Zim XI 142/10 (39 overs)
Masakadza 57 (87) Lyon 22/4 (Man of the Match)
Sibanda 37 (64) Hastings 22/3
Result: Australia A won by 90 runs.
2nd Match: Australia A vs South Africa A, Harare (30 June 2011)
Toss won by Australia A, decided to bat first
1st Inning
Aus A 214/9 (50 overs)
Finch 59 (78) (Man of the Match) Klienveldt 32/2
Marsh 41 (76) Alexander 42/2
2nd Inning
RSA A 154/10 (33.5 overs)
Kleinveldt 39 (25) Hastings 28/4
Ontong 23 (39) Butterworth 19/2
Result: Australia A won by 60 runs.
Batting so far is disappointing from all teams. Targets were quite achievable in both occasions, but Zimbabwe and South Africa gave up the match easily to Australian bowlers. Hastings shone in both matches with his bowling. He might be in the radar of Australian selection committee for the upcoming series.
