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“Take a single and give me the strike, I shall do the rest,” is what Mumbai Indians allrounder Dwayne Smith said he told RP Singh when 15 runs were needed off the last four balls against Chennai Super Kings. Smith, who was playing his first match of the season, backed himself to score 14 off the final three deliveries, and he did.Chasing 174, Mumbai Indians were ahead for most of the innings, with Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma putting on a 126-run stand. Following Tendulkar’s dismissal for 74, they needed 40 off 25 balls with eight wickets in hand. Mumbai Indians then lost five wickets for 24, leaving Smith and Lasith Malinga to score 16 off the final over, from Ben Hilfenhaus.Smith managed just a single off Hilfenhaus’ first ball, and then watched Malinga get bowled by a yorker. RP Singh pushed the third ball to cover, and gave Smith what he wanted, the strike. “I just backed myself. I know as long as I can watch the ball I can do it,” Smith said. “I told him to give me the three balls that were left as I knew I could do it from there.”Having been ignored at the 2012 player auction, Smith was signed by Mumbai Indians as a replacement for the injured Mitchell Johnson and only joined the squad on May 3. “I actually thought I was going to be here with one of the teams from the beginning, but that didn’t happen,” he said. “But I am happy to be here now and win some games for Mumbai. I remember winning a game for Barbados in similar fashion. It went into the super over. I got two sixes off the last two balls.”Smith clubbing the last three balls for six and two fours to the straight boundary kept Mumbai Indians at No. 3 in the points table and prevented Chennai Super Kings from progressing from No. 4.The Super Kings coach, Stephen Fleming, said that his team were “favourites going into that last over”. “It was an amazing game of cricket, [we have] mixed emotions really,” Fleming said. “There was phenomenal see-sawing throughout the day. Through their batting innings we were down and out but we fought back with some great fielding.”The challenge, according to Fleming, would be to lift the players’ spirits after such a defeat and get them ready for the final quarter of their league campaign. “We must win three from four games, we played pretty well today and if I get the same performance from my players for the next four games then I think we’ll go close,” he said. “It’s a flat dressing room now but that’s the challenge, we have a few days off which is good. We’re still in the competition and won’t give up.”

Five new faces have been named in the 26-man England Performance squad for 2012. Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Danny Briggs, Stuart Meaker and Ben Stokes are all included for the first time. But there is no room for James Taylor, Chris Woakes or Boyd Rankin.The EPS, which is chosen by the England selectors, consists of the 13 centrally contracted players, four players who have been awarded increment contracts and nine other players all of whom have been capped at senior international level. While the selectors are not obliged to pick only from members of the EPS and can add to it at any stage, the days when they sprung surprises are all but over. The squad provides a clear illustration of the players expected to represent England this summer.ECB National Selector Geoff Miller said: “We welcome the five new players to the squad and their inclusion reflects the progress they have all made with senior England teams and the England Lions over the last 12 months.”The England Performance Squad is designed to allow the selectors to monitor the development of international players and better prepare them for the demands of the international game.”We can name a total of 30 players in the EPS squad but have decided to name only 26 at this early stage of the season. We will keep this under review and may add additional players to the squad should individual performances merit it later in the summer.”England Performance Squad 2012
Andrew Strauss (Middlesex), Alastair Cook (Essex), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Ravi Bopara (Essex), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Danny Briggs (Hampshire), Jos Buttler (Somerset), Steven Davies (Surrey), Jade Dernbach (Surrey), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Craig Kieswetter (Somerset), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Stuart Meaker (Surrey), Graham Onions (Durham), Monty Panesar (Sussex), Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire), Kevin Pietersen (Surrey), Matt Prior (Sussex), Ben Stokes (Durham), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), James Tredwell (Kent), Chris Tremlett (Surrey), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire)

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Jesse Ryder provided a turbo-charged start to Pune Warriors’ chase•AFP

Pune Warriors had only four wins in their entire campaign in 2011, and were expected to struggle again in the absence of their marquee player Yuvraj Singh. Instead, they’ve got three victories in four games and are top of the table after upsetting the fancied Chennai Super Kings in front of a boisterous home crowd.It was an all-round performance from Warriors, with their bowlers first stifling the power-packed Super Kings batting by hitting the blockhole as often as possible, backed up by some sharp fielding, something which is a rarity in the IPL.Their chase was then controlled by two contrasting innings from two men struggling to hold down a place in their national sides. Jesse Ryder began in a hurry, but calmed down to play through the innings for the first time in his T20 career. Just when things started to become tense in the chase, Steven Smith hammered a bunch of boundaries, including two in the final over to complete the victory.It hadn’t seemed that it would be this close an encounter after Ryder, who would probably have been dropped had he failed again, provided a turbo-charged start, and even the run-outs of Robin Uthappa and Sourav Ganguly weren’t too big a hindrance. The spin duo of R Ashwin and Suresh Raina, though, choked the runs to inflate the asking rate, making it difficult to understand why Ravindra Jadeja was not used. It came down to 34 required off the final three overs, in which Ryder only needed to take three singles – Smith’s big hits took care of the rest.Both captains had been uncertain about how the pitch at the new Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune would behave, but it had few demons in it. Super Kings’ innings was built around a clutch of boundaries at the start of the innings from one of their cheapest buys, Faf du Plessis, and a flourish from their most expensive signing, Jadeja, in the second half.The openers began slowly before du Plessis waded into the fourth over from Ashish Nehra, taking 18 off it including a six over the bowler’s head after advancing down the track. Du Plessis went on to become the highest run-getter of the tournament, but his opening partner M Vijay’s struggles continued.Still, Super Kings were well placed after du Plessis’ blast, but were slowed down by legspinner Rahul Sharma’s strikes, who removed both du Plessis and Raina. Warriors then kept a lid on the scoring through some fast and full bowling from Marlon Samuels, who fired in a succession of quicker deliveries, some clocked as high as 127kph. The batsmen couldn’t get under those deliveries, and even MS Dhoni couldn’t find the boundaries, finishing on an underwhelming 26 off 28.Jadeja came out firing, and provided some impetus. Samuels’ darts and Ashok Dinda’s impressive ability to consistently deliver yorkers, though, kept the scoring down. All through the second half of the innings, one kept waiting for Super Kings’ big onslaught, but Warriors’ bowlers ensured that it never came.

Scorecard
Punjab reached a commanding position at stumps on day two of their contest against Sind, and took control of the Faysal Bank Pentangular Cup final at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Their dominance owed largely to the efforts of Aamer Sajjad, who top-scored, by a distance, with 252. He struck 32 boundaries in an innings that lasted for more than 10 hours and was assisted by a half-century from Usman Salahuddin for the third wicket and by the tail. He added 72 with No.9 Raza Hasan and 42 with No.10 Bilawal Bhatti. Sajjad was the last wicket to fall, his team eventually reaching 496. Danish Kaneria picked up six wickets, but conceded 160 runs and his team was in trouble by the end of the day.Seamer Mohammad Khalil struck thrice and Bhatti nipped out one wicket to reduce Sind to 36 for 4 at the close. The top four were back in the pavilion in just 7.2 overs bowled in the Sind innings, and a monumental challenge awaits on the third day.

Gautam Gambhir has termed Umesh Yadav the find of the tour, and India’s possible answer to the fast bowlers who have tormented their batsmen for long. He said it was time people stopped saying India can’t produce fast bowlers. However, Gambhir’s optimism about Yadav doesn’t quite reconcile with the team management’s. Before Yadav played the game against Australia on February 12, he had last bowled in a competitive environment on January 27.When he got a limited-overs game, though, Yadav bowled 10 overs for just 49, bowling inside Powerplays and at the death, removing two dangerous-looking batsmen, Michael Clarke and Peter Forrest. “Umesh for me is the find of the tour,” Gambhir said. “Someone who can bowl 150 consistently. It’s time we can give back to the opposition what we have been receiving for years and years.”Someone who can hit the deck hard and bowl 150 consistently can rattle any batsman in the world, even the greats … 150 coming at you is always tough to face. Especially in the middle overs. The way he bowled for those two crucial wickets were fantastic. More than the wickets, 149-150 consistently is a great find, and hopefully we can try and develop him as a matchwinner for us. Still early days, hopefully he can go on for a long time, and try and take lots and lots of wickets.”When asked where Yadav had been all this while – on tour but not being played – Gambhir didn’t quite have a concrete response. In both the Twenty20s, India went with two specialist spinners to go with a group of part-time spinners. They did the same in the first one-dayer. Then Zaheer Khan recovered from his knee niggle, and was back as the third quick.There was an apparent lack of confidence in Yadav until the game against Australia. It could have had to do with his lack of control in Tests where he strayed onto the legs often and conceded runs at 4.66 per over, which took his series average to 39.35 despite a decent strike-rate of a wicket every 50.5 balls, the best among the Indian bowlers in the series.”There has always been a rotation policy,” Gambhir said. “PK [Praveen Kumar] bowled well when he last came to Australia, and with two new balls he could have done well. But then Umesh, as we have seen, against Australia, on such a flat track, bowling that well, hopefully now he should play a lot more games.”Gambhir went on to rave about Yadav some more. “Someone who can bowl 150 is great for Indian cricket because we have been missing this for years and years. We talk a lot about our fast bowlers that they are not as quick, but someone like Umesh, I think, he is fantastic for us. Now people should stop talking we can’t produce fast bowlers. He can clock 150 with semi-new ball, we have developed one.”

Scorecard
Ankeet Chavan made his first century in first-class cricket•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Mumbai’s ruthlessness was on display as their last pair stretched theirlead to a 242, almost taking them to the semi-final barring animprobable second-innings collapse. Ankeet Chavan made his maidenfirst-class hundred, at No. 9, and added 68 with No. 11 Balwinder Sandhuto dash whatever little hopes of a comeback remained in the MP camp. Thehosts batted fluently in their second innings to knock off the deficit, butit’s very difficult to come back once a team concedes such a big lead in a four-day knockout game.Mumbai had been 60 for 5, 139 for 6 and 217 for 7 at various stages butafter Kaustubh Pawar had bailed them out of trouble yesterday, Chavanfurther demoralized MP today. The hosts had removed Pawar and Ramesh Powarearly in the morning, the latter falling leg-before to give the tirelessTP Sudhindra a deserved five-for. MP’s openers had begun stretching butChavan and Sandhu batted with the assuredness of a top-order pair.Chavan’s straight drives stood out as he kept forcing the MP fast bowlersdown the ground. A dab to the third-man boundary brought up an emotionalhundred as Chavan held his arms aloft, punched the air hard and waved hisbat to the Mumbai dressing room. Sandhu, who drove confidently through theoff side after some jittery moments, finally played a heave befitting hisposition in the batting order to be bowled for 24. By that time, Mumbai’slast four wickets had batted for 83.5 overs, nearly a day’s play.MP had no choice but to score quickly, which they did, the Mumbai attacknot troubling them at all on a pitch that had flattened out. Naman Ojha continueda prolific season with the kind of free-spirited batting that is his wont,something that was surprisingly lacking in the first innings. He began byswinging Powar for consecutive sixes over mid-on in his first over of thegame. Wasim Jaffer went back to fetch the ball and kept himself at long-onfor the next delivery. This time Ojha made some room and lofted Powar overmid-off, who also went back immediately.With runs flowing now, Mumbai set defensive fields for the remainder ofthe day. Jaffer chose to bowl Powar and Chavan ahead of his third quickKshemal Waingankar. Chavan ended up bowling his slow left-armers for 24 ofthe 64 overs MP batted, operating from over the stumps with short fineleg, deep square leg, deep midwicket, long-on and long-off in place.Ojha still managed to score runs against Chavan, stepping out and drivinghim inside out through extra cover repeatedly. The restrictive linefinally got to him, though, when he stepped out and swung Chavan straightto midwicket to throw away what would have been his fourth century of thetournament.Udit Birla came in and punched and swept his way to his second aggressivefifty of the match. With Mishra driving as well as he had in the firstinnings, the pair soon took MP into the lead. Their prospects of setting areasonable target for Mumbai tomorrow were dealt a blow, though, whenBirla went caught behind to Suryakumar Yadav in the penultimate over ofthe day. How MP would wish they had batted as confidently in the firstinnings as they did today.

ScoreboardBlazing batting and diligent bowling by South Australia clinched a six-wicket victory and a bonus point over Western Australia in the domestic limited overs match at the WACA ground.Michael Klinger, Daniel Harris, Daniel Christian, Callum Ferguson and Tom Cooper all made useful contributions, and each struck at least one six as SA rattled to the target at better than six runs an over. The left-armer Ryan Duffield claimed two wickets but his 10 overs cost 83 runs.The Warriors only reached their 8 for 252 due to a shot-speckled century by Luke Ronchi, having earlier slipped as low as 6 for 132. Kane Richardson grabbed three wickets for SA while Jake Haberfield, a CA Chairman’s XI selection to face India, also bowled well.The win lifted SA to equal top of the competition table with Tasmania on 18 points, each team now having played six matches.

Group B
Assam put on a solid batting performance to take firm control of their match against Jharkhand in Dhanbad. Overnight batsman Amit Sinha went on to score a maiden first-class hundred, Gokul Sharma followed up his effort with a fluent ton of his own and Tarjinder Singh made 75 as Assam piled up 502. Abu Nechim then knocked over two quick wickets, reducing Jharkhand to 25 for 2 at stumps, to consolidate Assam’s position in the match.A 141-run stand between Akshath Reddy and Bavanaka Sandeep carried Hyderabad to a comfortable 298 for 6 against Goa in Porvorim. Hyderabad began the day on 61 for 2, with Reddy and Sandeep at the crease, and Reddy went on to hit his second century in two matches while Sandeep made 68. After the pair was dismissed, the lower middle order built on the platform with cameos that took Hyderabad’s first-innings lead to 151, with four wickets in hand, at stumps.Some stout resistance from Jammu & Kashmir‘s lower order pushed the side from an overnight 302 for 8 to 388, against Maharashtra in Ratnagiri. The boost was courtesy an 86-run stand from Nos. 9 and 10, Samiullah Beigh and Abid Nabi. Beigh made 69, the innings’ second-highest score, before becoming one of left-arm spinner Akshya Darekar’s five wickets. Maharashtra’s openers – Harshad Khadiwale and Chirag Khurana – were steady in reply, putting on a century stand. Khurana fell for 81, after putting on another steady partnership with Sangram Atitkar, who was unbeaten on 56 at stumps. Maharashtra finished on 204 for 2.Group A
Driven by an unbeaten century from No. 7 Amit Kumar and an all-round show from Rishi Dhawan, Himachal Pradesh took charge of their match against Services in Dharmasala. Himachal began day two on 262 for 6, and the overnight pairing of Amit and Dhawan put on a century stand to push the team towards the 350-run mark. That Services bowled 63 extras helped, and they finished with 364. Dhawan then came good with the ball, taking three wickets as Services slipped to 134 for 6.Twenty-one wickets tumbled on day two of the Kerala v Andhra match in Kochi. Kerala began the day on 110 for 6, but their Nos. 8 to 11 managed only two runs among them as the side folded for 130. Atchuta Rao was the pick of the Andhra bowlers, finishing with 6 for 43. Sony Cheruvathur bettered, however, bettered that effort, taking 6 for 25 to ensure Kerala took the first-innings’ lead. Andhra were shot out for 74 as none of their batsmen managed to get past 22. The wickets fest continued in Kerala’s second innings, as they slipped to 81 for 7 – a lead of 137 – with Syed Sahabuddin and Shankara Rao picking up three wickets apiece.Tripura looked on course to take the first-innings’ lead against Vidarbha, reducing them to 204 for 7 after making 281 in Agartala. Udit Patel went on to score a fifty for Tripura at No. 8, ensuring they finished with a competitive total. He eventually fell for 56 to Sandeep Singh, who was the pick of Vidarbha’s bowlers with 6 for 79. Tripura’s bowlers then struck at regular intervals, not allowing the visiting batsmen to build on starts – five of the top seven got into double figures without going past Shiv Sunder Das’ 45 – to give their side the edge going into the third day.

Day 1, Tuesday, October 4
Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt arrive early; opening day sees mostly legal arguments between Aftab Jafferjee QC for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Ali Bajwa QC representing Butt and Alexander Milne QC representing Asif. Jury sworn in – six men, six women.Day 2, Wednesday, October 5
Prosecution begins its opening address to the jury, giving them records of phone and SMS traffic between parties involved. Says case reveals “depressing tale of rampant corruption at the heart of international cricket, with the key players being members of the Pakistan cricket team”.Day 3, Thursday, October 6
Jury shown video footage of no-balls – without sound/commentary, as agreed. Prosecution details money found: Butt’s room had cash of £14,003 in one spot, and £15,999 in various denominations in envelopes. There was also US$12,617, 24,300 of UAE dirhams, AUS$710, 26,015 Pakistani rupees, $350 Canadian, 440 South African rand – as well as four mobile phones. No NOTW cash found in Asif’s room but £1,500 marked notes in Amir’s room. ACSU official tells court illegal betting market is worth around $1 billion annually.Day 4, Monday, October 10
Court hears recordings of conversations between Mahmood (NOTW journalist) and Majeed, with Majeed making unsubstantiated allegations. Mahmood then says his (fictitious) bosses are interested in making “big money” from gambling – Majeed says he and the Pakistan players he claims to control have made “masses and masses of money”. Sky Sports statistician says “one in a 1.5 million chance” of three no-balls occurring at pre-determined times in a Test match.Day 5, Tuesday, October 11
Court hears, through Majeed’s comments captured covertly, that Pakistan cricketers plotted to oust then ODI captain Shahid Afridi from his position by underperforming, in order to promote Test captain Butt to the ODI role as well. Also hears that Majeed was offered $1 million to influence a Pakistan defeat last year at The Oval, a match they eventually won.Day 6, Wednesday, October 12
Prosecution’s key witness, journalist Mazhar Mahmood, questioned by Asif’s lawyer on whether phone-hacking had gone on during his covert investigation, says he had no idea.Day 8, Friday, October 14
Police interview recordings show Butt saying he never requested Asif or Amir to cheat and bowl pre-determined no-balls. Bajwa, Butt’s lawyer, sets out the extent of Majeed’s financial issues: Majeed held more than 30 bank accounts and had overdrafts worth £704,000.Day 9, Monday, October 17
Butt, in the witness stand, tells the court he chose not to report Majeed, his agent, to the authorities even when Majeed asked him for tips to fix matches. Says Majeed sent him text messages to help him fix elements of a game against South Africa at the Twenty20 World Cup in 2010. Bajwa says they “concede” a “criminal conspiracy” between Majeed and Amir but his client Butt was not party to it.Day 10, Tuesday, October 18
Butt accused by the prosecution of lying to the jury on at least two occasions. Once when quizzed on why Azhar Majeed – Mazhar’s brother and business partner – was in the hotel room of Pakistan Test debutant Wahab Riaz along with Butt and wicketkeeper Kamram Akmal after midnight during The Oval Test, Butt doubted the written evidence read out to the court from Pakistan team security manager Major Najam. After playing a video of the over in which Asif bowled the no-ball in question, Asif’s lawyer Milne accused Butt of pressurising his client.Mohammad Asif, in the witness stand, had accused Salman Butt of abusing him•AFP

Day 11, Wednesday, October 19
Prosecution completes Butt cross-examining by concluding he had “been caught”. The night before the match began, there were 20 calls or texts between Butt and Majeed, 25 between Amir and Majeed and four between Butt, Asif and Amir. Butt is also interrogated on text messages Majeed sent him during the Oval Test when he was trying to fix by having Butt bat out a maiden over, which he subsequently did not do. Not convinced by Butt’s denials at being complicit in Majeed’s plans, Jafferjee says: “You are lying your head off to this jury aren’t you Mr Butt?”Day 12, Thursday, October 20
Asif in the witness stand, accuses Butt of abusing him (“run faster f*****, have you slept”) before he bowled the second of the three no-balls. Butt’s lawyer Ali Bajwa QC suggests Asif is fabricating his story to justify the no-ball. Bajwa also accuses Asif of “untruthfully downplaying” his relationship with the Majeed brothers. Asif denies taking any money for his no-ball or even having any knowledge that other people had “an interest” in his bowling a no-ball. Also denies prosecution suggestion that he had been “sucked into a web of corruption by Butt and Majeed”.Day 13, Friday, October 21
Asif suggests Butt had to have been involved with an alleged fix to bowl no-balls in a Test match but stops short of a definitive accusation. “The captain knows. What I have told you the last two days…the captain knows. He is the one who brings them (bowlers) on.”Day 14, Monday, October 24
Closing speeches begin. Prosecution sets out why the jury should reach a guilty verdict, listing “13 facts that prove guilt”. Defence for Butt says there is “no reliable evidence” to convict him.Day 15, Tuesday, October 25
Asif’s lawyer Milne urges jury to “follow the money” – no marked News of the World cash was found in Asif’s room during initial police raids on the players’ hotel rooms. “If you follow the money, you will find that it does not lead to Mr Asif,” Milne says. Justice Cooke begins his summing-up in the afternoon, informs the jury they should take it as an agreed fact that Amir and Majeed were involved in the fix – the first official guidance given to the jury as to the parts played in the case by Majeed and Amir. Judge tells the jury: “You should base your decision on the evidence alone and draw inferences, which I mean by drawing common sense conclusions.”Day 16, Wednesday, October 26
Judge explains to the jury that they needed to consider the fact that Asif had not told the police when under caution last year the reason for his no-ball, which he later gave in court: that Butt had abused him and put him under pressure. Jury asked to consider if this was due to the language barrier or a late invention.Day 17, Thursday, October 27
Judge completes his summing up of the trial and sends the jury out to make a verdict by midday. The jury are sent home for the day at 4.00pm having failed to reach a quick decision.Day 18, Friday, October 28
The first full day of the jury’s deliberations and they are again sent home at 4.00pm without reaching a verdict. The main action of the day centred on when the jury returned to court to listen to audio recordings of conversations between Majeed and Mahmood, with Butt featuring in both by speaker phone.Day 19, Monday, October 31
The jury inform the judge they are unable to reach a unanimous verdict, after which the judge asks them for a majority verdict with at least ten of them concurring.Day 20, Tuesday, November 1
Salman Butt found guilty on both charges – conspiracy to accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat, while Asif is found guilty of conspiracy to cheat, with a hung jury on his second charge. It’s also revealed that Amir had pleaded guilty before the trial began, it couldn’t be reported because of restrictions.Day 21, Wednesday, November 2
Majeed is revealed to have pleaded guilty before the trial began. Lawyers for all four make their final submissions, appeal for leniency.Day 22, Thursday, November 3
All four get sentences – jail terms for Majeed (32 months), Butt (30) and Asif (one year) and six months in a young offenders’ detention centre for Amir. Butt plans to appeal.

Zimbabwe are gearing up for their third inbound tour in as many months as they host New Zealand from Saturday. For some other teams, it would be international overload but for a side that are eager to play and desperate to learn and improve, it’s perfect. With two Twenty20s, three ODIs and another one-off Test, there is a good enough mix of cricket to judge what progress has been made since their stirring return to Test cricket in August.If Bangladesh provided Zimbabwe with the opportunity to prove they belong at the highest level, Pakistan showed them how far behind the top tier they really are. After winning fans, gladdening hearts and building confidence against a regressive Bangladesh side, they were sent a few steps back by a Pakistan team that had an uncharacteristically controversy free tour and played like a unit from start to finish.Now, New Zealand have arrived, providing a challenge that is different to that of the two sub-continental sides. While flair and flamboyance is how the Asians like to play their cricket, New Zealand bring a more clinical, disciplined and effective game. In some ways, it’s a more even contest for Zimbabwe, who will likely need to prepare less for the unexpected burst of colour that a Tamim Iqbal or Sohail Tanvir can produce and more for grafting and grinding. They will have to put in sustained effort and not rely on mere moments of magic.Alan Butcher, Zimbabwe’s coach, said that the New Zealand series would likely turn out to be the best yardstick to measure his men because of their style of play. The performances against Pakistan would have set Zimbabwe back a little but it may not only have adverse effects. With the spotlight turned the other way, Zimbabwe’s cricketers have been able to return to their domestic franchises, play in a few low-key Logan Cup matches, fine-tune skills, regroup and get ready for a mini-restart.Preparation has been a key part of Zimbabwe’s approach so far. Before they hosted Bangladesh, they played in a tri-series against South Africa A and Australia A and in two first-class matches against Australia. Although the results did not go their way, the match practice paid off and Brendan Taylor is hoping for much of the same come New Zealand.”We’ve put in some great preparation and our confidence is good,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “I understand that New Zealand haven’t had any cricket for a few months, so hopefully we’ll have a bit of an upper hand.” New Zealand have not played since their World Cup semi-final defeat to Sri Lanka in March, although they have held training camps at home and in Pretoria. The value of time in the middle cannot be underestimated though, as South Africa, who have had a similar time away from the game as New Zealand, showed in their T20 against Australia.New Zealand will have to start straight from the blocks but Zimbabwe have had two series to assess areas that need improvement. A problem that started against Bangladesh and exploded against Pakistan was their butter fingers. “The fielding really let us down against Pakistan. We just put down too many chances,” Taylor said. “We’ve gone away and ironed that out and worked on it so we should put on a much better performance.”Since both the batting and bowling showed great promise, Zimbabwe have maintained relative continuity in their selection. Their T20 squad includes 20-year old legspinner Natsai Mushangwe, who has only played 16 domestic T20 matches. He has a good first-class record, with 76 wickets from his 26 matches and is seen as replacement for Graeme Creamer, who is still on the mend after a knee injury. “We’ve really missed Graeme, especially in terms of adding a different dynamic to our bowling attack so Natsai is in the squad,” Taylor said. “He has heaps of talent and a very bright future.”Ray Price, Prosper Utseya and Malcolm Waller provide the other slow bowling options, while Zimbabwe have four seamers in the experienced Chris Mpofu, pacy Kyle Jarvis, brave Keegan Meth and all-round Elton Chigumbura. Left-armer Brian Vitori still has a shin niggle and Zimbabwe are hoping he will be fit for the Test. “We can’t wait for him to get back to full fitness after he came onto the scene with a big bang, but luckily we have found some depth in a few other seamers now so we that’s good for us,” Taylor said.The batting is also loaded with experience in Hamilton Masakadza, Vusi Sibanda, Tatenda Taibu, Charles Coventry and Taylor himself. The captain confirmed he will bat lower down the order in limited-overs with Chamu Chibhabha opening.”Chamu is more suitable at the top in a team context,” Taylor said. “I’ll be in the middle and we’ll also have Charles Coventry there. It’s great to have him back in the fold and I know he is dying to perform.” Forster Mutizwa is also in the line-up. He has had a fantastic start to the season with scores of 73 not out, 164 not out and 83 for the Eagles.Zimbabwe have not seen much of New Zealand in recent years, except for a match each in the 2010 World Twenty20 and the World Cup earlier this year. They have also had a series against the New Zealand A side last year.Three unofficial Tests were contested between the two sides, of which New Zealand A won two. Three of the players in New Zealand’s T20 side, Graeme Alridge, Martin Guptill and James Franklin, played in those matches while Chris Martin, who will play in the one-off Test, also featured. For Zimbabwe, Tino Mawoyo made his name in that series as their highest run-scorer while Waller also had strong showings.The series was an important step in Zimbabwe’s eventual return to the Test arena and Taylor said they learnt a lot from it. “We got some video footage from there which has also helped us prepare for this series,” he said. “And Chris Harris, who is with our Under-19s, has also been doing some work with us. We’re looking forward to a competitive series.”The ability to challenge has not been an area in which Zimbabwe have lacked this season. They matched Pakistan in the first innings of the one-off Test, and should have won one of the T20s and one of the ODIs. It’s the lack of belief to get over the line that has held Zimbabwe back a little. Their over-cautious approach is largely the cause of a fear of failure but they realise the need to find some self-assurance is pressing. That is something they have to discover quickly, because their next assignment will be away from the comfort of home, in New Zealand, and they will have to go there a settled and secure unit. Zimbabwe have given the locals much to cheer this season but, before they jet off, they will want to give them concrete victories and not just moments to celebrate.