There can be no doubt about the sincerity and determination of Zimbabwe cricket to reclaim its place amongst the world's elite nations.  

   The appointments of Alan Butcher as head coach, alongside former national captain Heath Streak as bowling coach and Grant Flower as batting coach, are ample proof that no expense will be spared to reclaim the once proud status of  "underdog but potential giant killer".

The Cobras batsmen were relentless in their dispatching of the Zimbabwean bowlers at Newlands on Wednesday night, as the home side smashed its way to an eight-wicket victory with just over 7 overs to spare - a hugely comfortable margin in Pro20 terms!

Zimbabwe had struggled with a slow run rate since the first over of their innings and failed to pile up a respectable total.

Gibbs got a tad greedy, taking a huge double step down the pitch and attempting to clobber a massive 6, and was clean bowled by price. 65 for 2, 20 to win!

Zimbabwe have gained some measure of consolation in this innings by snapping up the wicket of Davids for 25, preventing an embarrassing ten-wicket whitewash.

New batsman is Gibbs, much to the delight of the
crowd, who are demanding more boundaries, and so they should! Gibbs and Puttick will want to get this game over and done with as soon as they can, and with the current run rate sitting at more than three
times the required rate, they're looking set to do just that.

Puttick is 12 short of his 50, will Zimbabwe hand it to him on a platter?

The Cobras are not holding back and have smashed their way to 60 for the loss of no wickets after just 7 overs. They need to get another 25 runs to claim victory, and the crowd is loving every boundary as they cheer their home team on to what is set to be a heavy thrashing of a hapless Zimbabwe tonight.

Zimbabwe have crawled to a dismal 84 for 9 from their allocated 20 overs after a disciplined bowling attack from the Cobras, who conceded 5 extras.

Charl Langeveld bagged 3 wickets for 14 runs from his 4 overs, while Henderson, Philander and de Lange each picked up two wickets. It's good to see whole families, from tiny tots to granny and gramps, out in full force here at Newlands, enjoying the exciting entertainment that Pro20 cricket provides.

Time for something to munch before the Cobras begin their chase of the total! 85 is what they need...