MARY-ANNE Musonda is over the moon after enjoying a winning start to life as Zimbabwe women’s cricket team captain following the team’s 5-0 series whitewash over hosts Namibia in the Namib Desert Women’s T20 Challenge held at the Sparta Club in Walvis Bay last week.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
Musonda was the tournament’s leading batter as she led the side from the front in her first series as skipper after recently taking over the captaincy from Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano.
While delighted with the personal honour of leading the side to victory in her debut tour as skipper, the 27-year-old, however, put the team’s successful tour down to all-round team effort.
“Obviously it meant a lot. To be frank, being given such a responsibility is humbling. It’s an honour. Also representing all the ladies who play cricket in Zimbabwe in this manner is special to me,” Musonda told StandardSport in an interview.
“However, credit goes to the ladies, they were well prepared and confident going into the series. They each played to the team’s plan and quickly adjusted to the conditions. They delivered 80% of the times.”
While Namibia hardly put up a fight in all five T20 matches as Zimbabwe proved far superior, Musonda believes there are a lot of positives for the team.
Zimbabwe were using the series against Namibia to prepare for the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier to be held in Harare in May.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
“There are some positives we can take from this tour as a team heading into the regional T20 qualifiers. Firstly, we need to stick to the team plan, put big scores on the board if we bat first and to win games regardless of the toss result,” she said.
Last year Zimbabwe suffered a narrow sevenrun home loss to Uganda in the decisive match for the ticket to the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 qualifier held in the Netherlands last July.
In the past the local side has dominated the regional qualifiers before coming short in the global qualifiers. Musonda though is confident they can go all the way to qualify for the World Cup this time around.
“We have put specific targets and plans in place to help us regain complete confidence in our game after the near misses in the past. We are hopeful that this time we can make it all the way,” she said.
