Zimbabwe’s national cricket team, also known as Chevrons, represents Zimbabwe in men’s international cricket and is manage by Zimbabwe Cricket (formerly known as the Zimbabwe Cricket Union). Zimbabwe has been a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1992. Zimbabwe Cricket Team History.
Zimbabwe’s first World Cup campaign ended in the group stage in 1983, as they lost five of their six matches. However, he threw a surprise against Australia. Batting first, Zimbabwe scored 239 for 6 in the allotted 60 overs, with captain Duncan Fletcher top-scoring with 69 not out. Fletcher then gave a career-best figure of 4 for 42, limiting Australia to 226 for 7, setting a stunning upset in the history of cricket. Zimbabwe participated in the 1983 Cricket World Cup as well as the 1987 and 1992 tournaments.

Test Match History

He made his Test debut in October 1992 against India in Harare. He showed tremendous improvement in his performance in the early days of becoming a full member. In 1995, he won his first Test match against Pakistan. This match was a great encouragement for the team and a lot of good players started to emerge from there.
Zimbabwe drew a three-match Test series against Sri Lanka in 1994/95. He then toured New Zealand in 1995/96 and drew a two-match Test series. He also invited England in 1996/97 and drew a two-match Test series. In addition, he drew a two-match Test series at home against New Zealand in 1997/98.

1999 was probably his best year in Test cricket. He invited India for the only Test and won it. Thus, he claimed to have won his first Test series against India. He also invited Pakistan for a three-Test series. They won one Test and drew two. Thus they won the series 1-0 and claimed to have won their first series against Pakistan. In 2000/01, he invited Bangladesh to a two-Test series, winning both matches. This was his first time whitewashing a team in a Test series. He then toured Bangladesh in 2001/02 for a two-Test series. They won the series 1-0 and claimed to have won their first Test series. Zimbabwe Cricket Team History.

Best Performance

Andy Flower holds the record for best average for a wicketkeeper-batsman and the highest individual score for a wicket-keeper-batsman in a Test. Heath Ledger is one of the few all-rounders to have scored 1500+ runs and taken 200+ wickets in both Tests and ODIs. After some poor performances following the resignation of senior players, the Zimbabwean team was voluntarily suspend from Test cricket by their cricket board and the ICC in late 2005. However, with their better performances in the early 2010’s, they began to attract more international teams to play in their home country. Teams like South Africa, Bangladesh and Pakistan started touring Zimbabwe.

He returned to Test cricket in 2011 after a long absence of six years and made a memorable comeback by defeating Bangladesh by 130 runs. In 2013, he drew a Test series against a strong Pakistan team. It was the first time in 12 years that he had won a Test against a team other than Bangladesh. He has not played many Tests since then. He drew a two-Test series against Bangladesh in 2017. After that, they drew a two-Test series against Afghanistan in 2020/21. His Test record so far has been good. Out of 115 Tests, he won 13, drew 28 and lost 74. Zimbabwe Cricket Team History.

ODI Cricket

The team became an associate member on July 21, 1981, and shortly thereafter, in 1983, it played its first World Cup. They competed well in the tournament. Although he lost five of his six matches, he set up one by defeating Australia in one of his league matches. The result was so impressive that it barred Australia from making it to the semi-finals of the tournament.
His campaign in the 1987 and 1992 World Cups did not go well, but he almost defeated Sri Lanka in a league match in 1992. They also beat England, the final runner-up in the tournament, by 9 runs.

The period from 1997 to 2002 is called the golden age of Zimbabwean cricket. His team had some really good players like Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Heath Streak, Alastair Campbell, Murray Goodon, Henry Olonga, Paul Strong, Neil Johnson. Andy Flower, Grant Flower and Heath Streak were world class players. Andy Flower has scored more than 6,000 runs in ODIs as a wicket-keeper-batsman, which is very low. Grant Flower scored more than 6000 runs in ODIs as an all-rounder and took 100 wickets which is also a good achievement.

1999 World Cup

His journey to the 1999 World Cup was amazing. Zimbabwe won against the world class best team like South Africa and India in world cup. South Africa was the best ODI team of that time. Zimbabwe managed to advance to the Super Six stage where they finished fifth. He missed out on a place in the semi-finals due to his run rate. Needless to say, he impressed the cricket community with his excellent performance.
During his golden age in cricket, he defeated almost all the leading cricketing nations except Australia. He won both the home and away series against New Zealand. They compete well in multinational tournaments and often upset strong teams. Unfortunately, the growing politics of cricket led to his downfall. His choice was also disrupt. He hosted the 2003 World Cup, which ended on a disappointing note.

From there, the team faced many financial challenges, administrative problems. His 2007 World Cup campaign did not go well. They failed to beat Ireland, an associate team at the time. The problems of the board and the players did not seem to be resolve any time soon. Charles Coventry’s individual performance in an ODI against Bangladesh in 2009 was when he scored an unbeaten 194, the highest combined ODI score for almost a year. Zimbabwe entered the 2011 World Cup unexpectedly. It was a good tournament for them as they won two of their six league matches against Canada and Kenya. Brendon Taylor was name captain of the team after the tournament. Zimbabwe Cricket Team History.

Construction of New Stadium

Restoration began when he announced the construction of a new stadium and sports club. They beat Bangladesh 3-2 to win their first ODI series in five years against a full member. In one ODI against New Zealand, he chased a big total of 329, which was also his first successful 300+ run chase in ODIs. His 2017 visit to Sri Lanka was memorable. He won his first ODI against Sri Lanka in Galle. Zimbabwe lost the next two ODIs and trailed 1-2 in the series. Zimbabwe won the last two ODIs and claimed a thrilling series against Sri Lanka. It was his first series win against Sri Lanka and his first ever series win since 2009.
He has been competing regularly ever since. Despite this, Zimbabwe failed to qualify for the 2019 World Cup due to the improvement shown by other associate teams and limiting the format to only 10 teams. Out of 535 ODIs, he won 138, lost 378, tied 8, while 11 matches ended in a draw.

T20 Cricket match history

In 2007, Zimbabwe prepared for its first T20 World Cup. They were place in a group that had the likes of Australia and England. And they stunned a world-class Australian team.
After upsetting Australia in their first T20 World Cup, Zimbabwe failed to qualify for the second T20 World Cup in 2009. At the 2010 World Cup, they were place in a group that included world-class teams such as New Zealand and Sri Lanka. They lost both their matches and were knock out of the World Cup. At the 2012 World Cup, they were place in a group consisting of teams from South Africa and Sri Lanka. Once again, they eventually lost both games and were eliminate from the tournament.

His 2014 World Cup was decent. He was place in Group B of the qualifying round and defeated the United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands, but could not advance further in the tournament due to insufficient run rate. His 2016 T20 World Cup was not good. Although they beat Hong Kong and Scotland in the group matches, they lost to Afghanistan by 59 runs which knocked them out of the tournament.

They have not played much T20I, but still they have beaten world class teams like Australia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and West Indies. Out of 88 T20Is, he won 20, lost 66 and tied 2 matches.

Summary

Zimbabwe have had some great successes in cricket but they are few and far between. Once a good limited overs team, they are now at the bottom of the ICC rankings. The unrest in the country made matters worse. Hopefully the Flower Brothers – Andy and Grant – will continue to encourage Zimbabwe and we will see a better Zimbabwean team in the near future. Zimbabwe Cricket Team History.

Team Colors

In Test cricket, Zimbabwe wears a white cricket uniform with the Zimbabwe Bird mark on the left side of the chest and the sponsor logo on the right side of the chest. Fielders wear a dark green hat or white sun hat, which also bears the Zimbabwe Bird mark. Helmets worn by batsmen are of a similar color.

In ODI and T20 cricket, Zimbabwe wears a red cut, usually with a yellow accent, or sometimes green or black. Fielders wear a red baseball cap or red sneakers. The batsman’s helmet is dark green. In ICC matches, the sponsor’s logo is on the left arm and “ZIMBABWE” is written on the front of the shirt.

The current uniforms are made by Vega Sportswear. The previous manufacturers were Reebok (2011-2013), Ehsan Sports (2004-2007), Asics (1999) and International Sports Clothing (1992-1996). PPC Zimbabwe is the current sponsor since 2018. Previous sponsors were Castle Lager (2013-2018), CBZ Limited (2010-2013), Old Mutual Life Insurance (2002-2004) and Zimbabwe Sun. For more details click here