The last Super 8 encounter at the Arun Jaitley Stadium has no consequences for either South Africa or Zimbabwe in the men’s T20 World Cup tournament. South Africa has already qualified for the semi-finals after registering comprehensive wins over both hosts India and West Indies.Zimbabwe, tournament’s surprise package, are heading back to Bulawayo after Sunday’s match. The team led by all-rounder Sikandar Raza has been comprehensively beaten by both West Indies and India that ended their hopes of qualifying for the semi-final.Zimbabweans are playing for their pride and for some adjustments especially from their bowling line up as they brace up to their neighbouring nation led by Aiden Markram. Raza’s side conceded 254 runs against West Indies and lost the match by 107 runs. Against India in Chennai, they conceded 256 runs to lose the match by 72 runs. This was a huge drop off after wins against Australia and Sri Lanka during the league phase of the tournament to qualify for the Super 8 for the first time in their history.Team’s bowling coach and former West Indies captain Courtney Walsh cited the difference in conditions in Sri Lanka and India the real reason for the drop in their performance.“I think obviously the conditions over here in India are different from what we had in Sri Lanka. SO it took a while for us to adapt. We didn’t adapt as quickly as we wanted to,” Walsh said on the eve of the match.“The conditions that we came to play on here, the wickets were a lot different, In Sri Lanka it stopped a little bit, might have turned a little bit. Not much of that happened here. It was easier batting here, a flatter track. The ball came on to the bat a lot more so with a change of an execution you have to be a little bit more spot and we did not execute as well as we could have,” he added. While Zimbabwe is likely to field its strongest playing eleven, there is a good chance that South Africa will ring in a few changes for Sunday’s clash. Assistant coach Ashwell Prince hinted as much.“I think there is an opportunity to have a look at some of the guys who haven’t been playing regularly. I suppose things that you have to consider is the guys that have been playing there will be a discussion with the coach and medical staff how the energy levels are, is there anybody who is carrying some slight niggles that would be better suited for resting rather than playing another game,” he said.


