"We need to up our skills": Captain Sikandar Raza wants Zimbabwe to build on victory against India
Jul 06, 2024
Harare [Zimbabwe], July 6 : After wrapping up a clutch 13-run victory against India, Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza said his team need to take one game at a time and he wants his side to go beyond their historic victory in the match of ongoing T20I series here at the Harare Sports Club.
Raza and his bowlers defended a total of 115 runs as they bundled out India for just 102 runs in 19.5 overs.
Raza also said that T20 World Cup champion Team India played like world champions and his team need to make sure they up their game one match at a time. The Zimbabwe captain applauded the efforts of the bowlers for putting in fighting efforts to dominate batters.
Tendai Chatara and Raza returned with three-wicket hauls respectively while Brian Bennett, who hammered 22 off 15 balls, bagged one wicket. Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani and Luke Jongwe scalped one each.
"Feel really happy. Gotta take one game at a time. Gotta enjoy this victory but job's not done. World champions will play like world champions, we gotta make sure we keep upping our game one game at a time. I don't think it's a 116 wicket, it's not a wicket where you get all out for 103. So, credit to the bowlers from both sides especially given the sticky conditions in the winter. Likely to be slower and turn," Raza said in a post-match presentation.
Raza appreciated the passionate support from the fans which felt like fielding a 12th man in the team. Zimbabwe captain stated that they need to be wary of a powerful fight-back in the 2nd T20I match by the Shubman Gill-led side.
"I told not to care about the result, just wanted to show fight and give the crowd what they wanted. We didn't want to blown away. We were brilliant in the field. Not perfect, but that shows there's room for improvement. We knew the fans will be there encouraging us. We wanted to make use of the energy while batting, bowling fielding. And the crowd didn't let us down, the energy was up and kept us going. We felt like we were a team of 12, again," Raza said.
After restricting Zimbabwe to 115/9, India looked well poised to chase the total comfortably. However, the inexperienced Indian side was rattled early in the chase which helped Zimbabwe successfully defend their lowest total against the Men in Blue in T20I format.
