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Eddie Chikamhi, Harare Bureau
FORMER Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor says senior players should take responsibility against the United Arab Emirates tomorrow in their last Super Six match at Harare Sports Club which will decide the Chevrons’ fate in their quest to qualify for next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup.

Taylor, who struck a career 10th ton in a losing cause against the Windies on Monday, believes Zimbabwe are still poised to grab one of the two available tickets to England and Wales despite the four-wicket setback on Monday.

The 33-year-old wicket-keeper/batsman told reporters that the game against UAE was “basically a final” for Zimbabwe, which needs the home team to be at their best regardless of the perceived low profile of their opponents.

Taylor is convinced that if senior players, including Hamilton Masakadza, Craig Ervine, Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams find their groove, then the World Cup dream will be a reality by end of day tomorrow.

“We have some key batters there that have got stats and probably haven’t kicked on. I think Sean Williams has started kicking today (on Monday against West Indies) having not played a lot of cricket for six to eight months.

“But there is Hammy (Masakadza) who has shown some good signs, there is Craig. Raza has been excellent so we need to put our hands up and continue with our form because we have been good.

“We have had one slip up (against the West Indies) and we need to put that behind us quickly and move forward. We know what Thursday holds and we are certainly not taking anyone for granted.

“We will certainly be motivated for that. We will regroup quickly and make sure that we hit the ground running on Thursday. We have to make sure that we do pull the trigger and not leave anything to chance, for sure,” said Taylor.

Zimbabwe go into this match as clear favourites against a side that is at the basement of the Super Sixes log standings with no point.

Apparently, the Chevrons delayed their celebrations with the loss to the Windies, but the dream is still on should they beat UAE, regardless of what happens in the top-of-the-table clash between West Indies and Scotland today.

West Indies lead the race with six points while Zimbabwe are in second place, tied on five points with Scotland ahead of the final group matches.

The Chevrons have a better net run rate than the Scots who need to upset the powerful Windies to stake their claim.

There are also dark horses in Afghanistan and Ireland who could capitalise on the slip up by any of the top three to sneak into second place after both teams moved to four points courtesy of wins in their last matches.

Afghanistan, who had a disappointing start in the Qualifier, thrashed UAE by five wickets yesterday while Ireland’s 25-run win over Scotland also kept them in the reckoning.

The two teams have a potentially exciting date on Friday.

“Regardless of what happens with Scotland and West Indies, we have to win on Thursday. The side that wins on Wednesday, they go through. We can’t worry about them. We have to worry about what we do on Thursday.

“We know the importance of Thursday against UAE, which is a side that is certainly developing. They have got some pretty handy players as well and they will be keen to make a statement. For us it’s basically a final, we need to win that and it’s pretty clear cut.

“We know what we have to do and we need to be sharper than we were (against West Indies),” said Taylor.

He also said home support will be crucial and urged Zimbabweans to fill Harare Sports Club tomorrow.

The former skipper suggested that supporters should be allowed to watch international matches free of charge in the future after seeing the impact home crowds have had on their performance in this Qualifier.

“It’s been pretty special to have the Qualifier at home. I think twice we have had extremely close games and we managed to pull it off and certainly I think the crowd has played a part.

“It”s been great having a full house here at Harare Sports Club, and I think going forward, why not open up the gates to the public and let them come in?

“They are passionate about watching us play and they are very supportive of us. Instead of charging them a dollar or two dollars, which is to them a lot of money, so get them in for free.

“It’s great having them here, and it certainly helps the players and we want to repay them by putting in a big performance on Thursday and moving forward.

”There’s nothing better than playing in front of the home crowd with a packed house. So I would like to see that. Hopefully, that happens,” said Taylor.