Letter to the Editor Zimbabwe - Sadly misses out once again to qualify for World Cup 2023 in India

I cannot help but feel sad for the hosts Zimbabwe missing out once again to qualify for one of the two slots to play in the World Cup in India. They performed extremely well in the preliminary rounds  but lost to Sri Lanka and Scotland in the Super Sixes.
Having watched both matches, I felt empathy for the players and more so for the spectators that thronged the stands on both days to support their team. What was most amazing was that they kept up the crescendo even to the very end when they were losing! This augers well for a country that is suffering from economic strife similar to Sri Lanka or much worse! The spectators were continuously chanting, cheering and clapping their hands in unison throughout the two matches to encourage their cricketers to play well. Well, the cricketers played their best but came a cropper due to better opposition from Scotland. Earlier match too they crumbled against a superior Sri Lankan bowling attack! 

As for the decider against Scotland, Zimbabwe fought back after an early disaster being 37-4 wickets down to some ferocious pace bowling by Chris Sole who hit the deck at speeds of  148-150mph to dismiss Joylord Gumbie first ball, Craig Irvine, Kaia, and the inform Sean Williams cheaply, but a dogged innings and blistering batting by Ryan Burl scoring 83 off 84 balls looked like victory in sight but when he unfortunately got out, the rest of the batting fell like nine pins! Scotland won by 31 runs and in with a chance to qualify for the World Cup 2023. Zimbabwe like in 2019 are sadly out of contention once again!

Well whatever the result was, I noted the good behaviour of the players on both sides and the spectators to be absolutely impeccable! Although losing, Zimbabwe never showed their disappointment or remorse. On the contrary they were gracious in defeat and proved  beyond doubt what sportsmanship is, and what the “ spirit of cricket” is all about, badly lacking in countries like England and Australia as witnessed recently in the Ashes Test.

If it had been India losing at home the players would have had to face the wrath of the spectators inside the grounds as well as facing carnage outside with their homes being set on fire, as experienced many times in the past. The world cup match riot by the spectators when India were losing to Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens was an example of the fiery Indian supporters! Sri Lankan spectators would not stoop to such low levels but would certainly sulk or insult the team for losing and blame the selectors and/or the Sri Lanka Cricket Board for the loss! This is not cricket played or witnessed in the right spirit of the game. In this regard, I noted Zimbabwean cricketers thanking their supporters after the match even though they lost to Scotland and Sri Lanka and some cricketers were signing autographs and posing for selfies. That is cricket played and observed in the right spirit of this great game now being tarnished because the stakes are extremely high!
Well done Zimbabwe you were certainly not losers. 
 
Christopher Dias