Missed catch costs Zimbabwe dear

Have Zimbabwe shed their inferiority complex yet and adjusted to the idea that they might just be able to justify their position in the Super Sixes? Not altogether, as evidenced by the play in their match against New Zealand today.

The main plus is that Zimbabwe were not overwhelmed, although a six-wicket margin is still a comprehensive defeat. To score 252 for seven wickets was a good achievement, but only three batsmen deserve much credit for that. Six wickets went down for just over 100 runs, and each of those batsmen dismissed could blame himself for it. It looked very much as if Zimbabwe were choking again - or at least the top-order batsmen were.

Fortunately three players were made of sterner stuff. Tatenda Taibu led the way. The commentators thought he was too aggressive in intent at first, feeling he should have concentrated on settling in and rebuilding the innings. But he was confident and positive, and he came off very well.

Heath Streak played the safe way to start with, and had enough time to build an innings, although this only happens in the one-day team when there is a crisis. As we knew he would if he stayed, he kept the score moving until the final over, when he launched a superb assault on the bowling. He was assisted by Sean Ervine, who hammered 34 off 14 balls in support. The pair took Zimbabwe past 250, when earlier 200 had looked unlikely.

They put right the damage self-inflicted by the top order. In the second over Dion Ebrahim failed again, bowled off the inside edge playing with a diagonal bat.

Ebrahim is a controversial choice for the one-day team. In 42 matches he has only one century and one fifty to his credit - both against Bangladesh. Yet he has been given one chance after another in the one-day side by the benevolent selectors. Ebrahim is one of the nicest guys in cricket, and the sort of player everyone wants to succeed. But he hasn't.

One of the biggest frustrations is to see the selectors make a major error in selection, to know it is an error, and watch the team struggle as it is proved to be an error. That has happened in the case of Alistair Campbell.

Campbell is a highly frustrating player, loaded with talent and yet falling so far short of his potential. For years he was kept in the team by the indulgent selectors, whatever his form. But during the past couple of years, browbeaten by an anti-Campbell press, the selectors have finally lost patience with him and his place in the team has been less secure.

Dave Houghton says that Campbell plays better when his place is under threat. The problem is that the selectors have chosen the wrong times to teach Campbell a lesson by dropping him.

This first happened just over a year ago. After a poor series against South Africa, Campbell was dropped for the tours to Sharjah and Bangladesh. This was fair enough and would probably have served as a lesson. The problem was that he was still omitted when it came to the tours to Sri Lanka and India, when his experience was urgently needed - especially in Sri Lanka.

Now this season he was dropped from the World Cup squad after unsuccessful home series against Pakistan and Kenya. The first mistake the selectors made was to ask him to captain the team against both tourists, in place of the injured Heath Streak. This meant they could not easily drop him against Kenya, which should probably have happened. So they compensated for this by omitting him from the World Cup squad.

I have always maintained he should have been in the squad, even if he was not selected in all the matches. My feeling was that he might have been omitted from the first match, against Namibia, to rub in the lesson, and then played after that. Instead, we have had Mark Vermeulen, Guy Whittall and Ebrahim in turn partner Craig Wishart, who himself is not a natural opener, and all have failed. Where will they turn for the final two Super Six matches, with no Campbell to call on?

Wishart performed a regular trick of his, weathering the early storm, although tentative against the moving new ball, and then, having done the hard work, giving his wicket away for a score between 15 and 35. He needs to come to grips with himself and settle in for major scores.

The other top batsmen were also culpable, as they are no doubt aware. Grant Flower paid the penalty for trying to pull before he had adjusted to the pace of the pitch and the bowler. Andy Flower, four times out of five, would have got home with the quick single he attempted, but such a percentage is not good enough in this game. Whittall tried to hit across the line, while Andy Blignaut unwisely backed up too far.

Six errors that could have been avoided, and Zimbabwe were deep in trouble. It was hard to avoid the feeling that Zimbabwe were choking again.

Many of the Zimbabwe players can learn a lesson from the Kenyans, who caused India far more trouble on Friday than Zimbabwe did to New Zealand on Saturday, not withstanding their end-of-innings assault.

The Kenyans, far from being overwhelmed by their entry into the Super Sixes, were determined to enjoy every moment of it. Their opening pair knuckled down and batted with superb application, although they were a little slow. nexperience prevented them from making the most of batting first but, fired by vibrant enthusiasm, they shot out India's top three batsmen and made them fight all the way for victory.

Closer to home, we have the example of Taibu. Bring along a crisis, and he seems to relish the chance to go in and sort it out himself. Stress and strain does not show on his face; instead he radiates a deceptively carefree enthusiasm that hides a steel nerve. Certain other members of the team seem to take the game over-seriously, and so tighten up and are not free to perform at their best. Taibu's motto seems to be "Relax and relish the moment," and it would do others good to try to adopt this approach.

Perhaps this tension has something to do with the injuries that keep hitting the players. Perhaps also there is an element of shooting themselves in the foot.

First Brian Murphy apparently injured a calf muscle when bowling in the nets during the lunch interval, so he never set foot on the field of play and Zimbabwe were left without their specialist spinner. Andy Flower missed most of the fielding session with a groin injury. Whittall also strained something trying to save a boundary, so he was able to bowl only three overs. For much of the innings Zimbabwe had to field three substitutes.

One of these, Travis Friend, took a catch at long leg. Another, Doug Marillier, missed a catch. It was not quite clear whose fault it was that the catch was missed, but it was probably a shared responsibility. Three fielders all ran for it, when one is generally considered to be a quorum in such a situation. Just before attempting the catch, Marillier hesitated momentarily, no doubt seeing the other two coming in from different directions. And it went down.

Did he call for it? Did anybody? It didn't look like it. In a situation like this, it used to be the captain's responsibility to shout, "Doug, take it," or something like that. We see too many mix-ups of this sort these days through lack of the basics, the worst being that horrendous crash between Steve Waugh and Jason Gillespie nearly four years ago.

This was a crucial catch that came just as the balance of the match was tilting towards New Zealand. After that, they strode ahead and Zimbabwe never had another chance. It was the final turning point.

Zimbabwe's bowling was not particularly good, but it was no worse than it often is these days, when we have so few bowlers who can bowl line and length. Streak bowled well, but he is not a match-winner with the ball in one-day cricket, and Douglas Hondo bowled some useful deliveries. With Murphy and then Whittall missing, we were grateful for our all-rounders, and especially that Grant Flower was able to bowl and keep a tight rein on the scoring.

I tend to feel that Sean Ervine is at present given too much responsibility with the ball, although that could hardly be helped today. But against Pakistan he came on first change instead of Blignaut, and he tends to be very erratic. He batted and fielded superbly today, his talent is prodigious, and I have no doubt he will become a very fine bowler as well.

But as yet he isn't consistent enough, mixing superb deliveries with loose ones. Too often, though, he seems to be brought on when the need is to keep the batsmen quiet rather than gamble on a wicket or two, and immediately there seems to be a haemorrhage of runs, taking the pressure off the batsmen. I think he needs to be used at present with a bit more care.

I hope Zimbabwe appreciate the threat posed to them by Kenya in the match scheduled for next Wednesday. The Kenyans appear to be totally unfazed, in fact perhaps inspired, by their appearance in the Super Sixes, while many Zimbabweans seem worn down by care and fear of failure. We have always beaten Kenya before, but this time they may well be at their most dangerous yet. It could be a hard match, and unless we can play more naturally we could be in for a shock.

Our defeat by New Zealand has almost certainly removed any small hopes we may have had of reaching the semi-finals. So, guys, go out and play the Kenyan way, the Taibu way, enjoying the experience as one that will never be repeated in Africa during your careers. Zimbabwe needs to seize the moment and enjoy it to the full. That's when we will play our best cricket.