The recent ODI series between Zimbabwe and West Indies started with the proverbial bang and ended with the proverbial whimper. In between, West Indies asserted a clear measure of superiority over a Zimbabwe team that has suffered much in recent years. Given my lack of experience in looking at ODI figures, and even more the enigmatic situation of Zimbabwe cricket, I'm slightly cautious about drawing firm conclusions. That said, though, here are some shaky ones.

(a) West Indies are generally agreed to face a tough task in South Africa, and the Zimbabwe series shows that their problem lies not so much in scoring runs but in defending wickets. This is visible not so much from their batting figures, but from the Zimbabwe bowling ones. The Zimbabwe bowlers took wickets at a strike rate of 45.61. In the context of the West Indies' figure of 32.18, the recent South Africa one of 64 and the New Zealand one of 39.94, it really looks to me as if South African bowlers will prevent West Indies batsmen from building a decent innings.

(b) West Indies are going to have to rely on their bowling to win them matches in South Africa. This isn't beyond the bounds of possibility, but looks unlikely given the dominance of JE Taylor in their attack. Here's today's table:

				Bowler		Overs/Innings	Strike Rate
				Taylor		9.46		20.64
				Powell		9		36.00
				Lewis		8.88		35.50
				Samuels		7		84.00
				Rampaul		6.75		54.00

Taylor had a great series, but after that things fall off pretty fast among the top 5 West Indies bowlers. All the remaining ones have strike rates worse than the team average for this series of 32.18. By contrast, the South Africans against New Zealand go can count 4 of their top 5 from the New Zealand series as above their team average, with the exception being the stingy Pollock.

(c)Zimbabwe perhaps don't have as far to go as one might think to be competitive at the ODI level. Their economy of 5.07, while high, is tolerable against a strike rate of 45.61. Their main problem is an inability to defend their wickets against International-quality bowling. They really need the ability to stick around, because they are scoring runs at a reasonable rate, too - Scoring Rate = 74.4. Alternatively, if they could boost their Scoring Rate to a considerably higher level while not losing wickets any faster, they might find themselves winning a few more matches.