‘I’ll back him again and again’: Raza stands by Madhevere after final-over gamble

Wessly Madhevere was ‘in the right frame of mind’ according to captain Sikandar Raza to bowl the final over against Australia • Namibia Cricket

Why did

Wessly Madhevere

bowl the final over of the

third ODI against Australia

, which

Zimbabwe

lost by one wicket? Zimbabwe captain

Sikandar Raza

said that it was because Madhevere “put his hand up” and was in the “right frame of mind” to take on the responsibility. Raza also said he would continue to “back” Madhevere in similar situations “until he gets it right”. Madhevere bowled the final over of Australia’s chase of 272 in Harare just four deliveries after dropping Nathan Ellis, which would have ended the game since Australia were nine down at that point. Australia then needed nine runs to win off the final over, and Ellis chipped a shot over midwicket to seal the game on the penultimate delivery of the chase. “I think [Madhevere] was in the right frame of mind,” Raza said. “He wanted to win the game; I wanted him to win the game… It takes a lot of courage to even raise your hand to say, ‘I’ll bowl the last over’. “He said he’s good to bowl, and that’s all I needed… I’ll back him again and again and again until he gets it right. We don’t leave a man when he’s down. These are the games, these are the moments you want to be part of to win it for the team…. We had plenty of chances to close the game before [the final over]; unfortunately, we didn’t take those.” Madhevere had also dropped Josh Inglis on 48 despite a leaping effort. Inglis went on to make 103 off 102. Madhevere had taken 1 for 25 with ball in hand off his five overs prior to bowling the final one. On the other hand, Graeme Cremer – playing his first ODI since 2018 – had taken 2 for 53 and had one over left at the end of the game. “I think because Ellis was [on strike] and our off-spinner [was bowling] into the wind and to the longer side as well, there was a lot going for Wessly,” Raza said, reasoning why he went with Madhevere for the final over over Cremer. Zimbabwe had a dream T20 World Cup in February this year, beating Australia and reaching the Super Eight. However, since then they have lost a T20I series to Bangladesh 2-1, lost 3-0 to India, and nearly missed out on the final of their tri-series against Namibia and South Africa when they scraped through on the last ball of their first game against Namibia. They also lost all three matches they played in the series against South Africa, before losing 3-0 to Australia in this series. “I know we have lost [the series against Australia], but I don’t think Zimbabwe has regressed,” Raza said. “I do think we have made some great strides and progress… Hopefully with more ODIs and bigger nations coming to Zimbabwe [for the ODI World Cup in Africa next year], our progress will be faster, and that’s what we’re hoping for.” When asked about where Zimbabwe could improve as a side, Raza pointed to the way their opposition played. “[Australia] have shown us: three ODIs, three hundreds, three victories. Zimbabwe hasn’t scored a hundred. That is one thing for me that I want to be very firm in the changing room about: that if your top four – one of them gets a hundred – there’s a very good chance you get your team across the line. “Like I said, before the last over, we had plenty of chances to close the game, which we didn’t. So those are the little moments, and if you look at [the Australia players], every little moment, every half a chance, you know, they were all over it. Everything was like [they] want to win the game… I think that’s why more bigger nations need to come, so that we can learn from them how to close games, how to be clinical.” Zimbabwe next play Bangladesh and Afghanistan in an

ODI tri-series

in the UAE, starting October 17.