Zim names T20 squad
The Observer - 23 February 2014 - 15
Z
IMBABWE called up spinner
Tafadzwa Kamungozi for the
World Twenty20 and finally
submitted its squad on Friday
following a player strike that put the team´s
participation in doubt.
Kamungozi´s inclusion was the only major
surprise. The 26-year-old legspinner played
the last of his four one-day internationals in
2006 and has no international T20 experience.
Brendan Taylor captains the squad for
the tournament in Bangladesh starting on
March 16, and where Zimbabwe faces games
against Ireland, Netherlands and United Arab
Emirates to qualify for the main Super 10
stage.
Zimbabwe was given permission to
name its 15-man squad late after months
of problems over non-payment resulted in
players going on strike late last year and the
national team not training.
Players have now been paid after the
struggling Zimbabwe cricket board was given
a $3 million loan by the ICC.
Hamilton Masakadza is the most
experienced batsman alongside skipper Taylor.
Zimbabwe: Brendan Taylor (captain),
Hamilton Masakadza, Prosper Utseya, Elton
Chigumbura, Sean Williams, Malcolm Waller,
Vusi Sibanda, Sikander Raza Butt, Brian Vitori,
Tendai Chatara, Natsai M´shangwe, Shingirai
Masakadza, Timycen Maruma, Tafadzwa
Kamungozi, Tinashe Panyangara. (AP)
Zimbabwe shines at Sochi Olympics
L
Chris Spillane
uke Steyn of Zimbabwe leads
his national delegation during
the opening ceremony of the
2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Photographer: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via
Getty Images
Should Luke Steyn defy the odds to win
Zimbabwe’s first Winter Olympics medal,
the Alpine skier says that the landlocked
African nation should leapfrog Norway
and the U.S. to lead the medals table at the
Sochi Games.
“Gold medals are important, but it
should be the number of medals divided
by how many people are on the team,”
the 20-year-old skier, who is Zimbabwe’s
Chelsea in last-gasp win
first and only Winter Olympian, said in an
interview after finishing 57th in the giant
slalom. “If I got a gold, I should win
because there’s a one-to-one ratio.”
While opinions differ by country on
whether success be measured by gold or
total medals, whoever wins the most-high
profile event usually is remembered as
the champion of the Games, according
to Olympic historian David Wallechinsky.
The 1980 Lake Placid Games is
remembered for a U.S. team of amateurs
beating the Soviets in hockey, although
the U.S.S.R. had the most golds and
overall medals.■
Suarez signs new
long-term contract
L
Liverpool
P
remier League leaders Chelsea scored
an injury-time goal to beat Everton at
Stamford Bridge.
Frank Lampard’s late free-kick was
diverted in off keeper Tim Howard, who was under
pressure from John Terry, for the winner.
The goal was a blow for an Everton side who
had resolutely held on until then.
Howard had done well to deny Samuel Eto’o,
Eden Hazard, Lampard and Branislav Ivanovic
before the late drama saw the hosts snatch victory. ■
uis Suarez has committed his future to Liverpool by signing a new
long-term contract, the club confirmed on Friday
.It was not immediately clear how long the deal was for, but
Suarez told the club website: “I am delighted to have agreed a
new deal with Liverpool and have my future secured for the long term.”
Suarez, 26, has been in impressive form after a turbulent summer in
which he suggested the club had reneged on an agreement to sell him if
they failed to qualify for the Champions League.
It had been expected that ta