As Zimbabwe and the Netherlands prepare for their last Super 12 match in Adelaide on Wednesday, optimism pervades both camps. Both teams are mathematically still in with a possibility of reaching the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 semi-finals, however, the Dutch have the slimmest of possibilities with no wins in their first three group matches. Talk of a top-two finish for Zimbabwe, on the other hand, reflects the attitude of a bunch of players who have already exceeded expectations in Australia.
Nail Biting last matches of Super 12 Teams
The astonishing triumph against Pakistan earlier in the competition was perhaps the highlight of the tournament, but the players must now pull themselves up following a nail-biting last-ball setback to Bangladesh last time out. The Tigers’ defeat hasn’t thrown Zimbabwe out of contention for an unexpected top-two finish, but it has made the task more difficult.
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The first aim is to defeat the Netherlands and advance to the fifth round. Then comes India on the last day, maybe in a winner-take-all match. Given the circumstances, defeating Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and company would be one of the greatest upsets in tournament history. Zimbabwe, on the other hand, is a confident side that still has that goal in mind.
Making the semis would be a huge highlight for us,” Captain Craig Ervine said. I believe that would be the frosting on the cake. The boys are still really optimistic that we’ll make it.” We just need to bring a lot of enthusiasm to these last two games. Despite being winless since Round 1, positive spirit is abundant in the Netherlands camp. Obviously, the qualification into the next round was a plus.” That was something we wanted to do, and to sit there and go out and do it was incredible,” Logan van Beek said.
However, the novelty has worn off after the first three games we played. We haven’t given our best effort in these three games. The boys are here to make sure we put in our best effort and performances in these last two games because we truly don’t feel like we’ve reached our full potential yet.” This squad contains some outstanding cricketers.