I’m very proud of my team: Prosper Utseya

By Rahul Bajaj
for Cricketain.com

Published: March 6, 2010

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Georgetown: Zimbabwe skipper Prosper Utseya has said that he is very proud of the way that his team held its nerve and clinched a two-run win over West Indies in the first one-day international.

Just four days after pulling off a historic Twenty20 International victory in Port of Spain, Zimbabwe drew first blood in the five-match series to further humiliate the hosts, who failed to successfully chase 255 in 50 overs.

“I’m very proud of the guys,” he said. “It was a very good team effort, and it was important that we keep the momentum going.”

“I said after we won the toss it was the average score when West Indies played here last year against England, so we just believed in ourselves that we could get 250, and with the way we’re bowling at the moment it would be enough.” He added. “West Indies are still a good side. We still respect them. For us to beat them, we need to make sure that we play hard, remain focused, pay attention to the small things, and remain disciplined.”

Zimbabwe owed their victory to fast-medium bowler Shingirai Masakadza, and it was a huge gamble that Utseya took when he entrusted the final over to the 23-year-old ODI debutant.

After Nikita Miller struck 11 from the first three balls, Masakadza bowled Dwayne Smith for four, and had Sulieman Benn caught at deep mid-wicket next ball to swing the match in Zimbabwe’s favour.

“He managed to remain calm under pressure, and that was key, so he can learn from that going into the next game. Of course, he will have many more moments like this in his career,” Utseya said.

Vusimuzi Sibanda had earlier put the Zimbabweans on the path to victory when he anchored the innings with 95, which earned him the Man-of-the-Match award.

“Usually, I like to score quickly, but it was not one of those days for me, so I decided that I would go out there, and take my time,” he said. “Initially, I thought our total was sufficient, but then I had my doubts, following the start from West Indies. Chris Gayle and Adrian Barath made it difficult for our bowlers, but we always thought it was a decent total. The tour has started really nicely for us. It’s good to start off with a couple of wins, and hopefully we can continue playing well in the upcoming games.”

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