No mercy, says Elton

Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura will have to dig deep if they are to avoid an unlikely threat from the amateurs of UAE during their second World Cup match at Nelson today. Photo: Star File

Zimbabwe have warned they will show no mercy against minnows the United Arab Emirates in their World Cup match in Nelson on Thursday, with captain Elton Chigumbura promising a "ruthless" approach.

The Pool B match statistics are heavily lop-sided in favour of Zimbabwe, seeking a commanding win as they bid to bounce back from their opening loss to South Africa.

"You have to take every game seriously, do the basics right and make sure when you get into a good winning position you are ruthless and win the game," Chigumbura said Wednesday.

Zimbabwe put up a credible showing in parts during their tournament opener against South Africa.

They had their border rivals struggling at 83 for four before century-makers David Miller and JP Duminy mounted a 256-run rescue mission to lift the Proteas to 339.

In reply, Zimbabwe reached 191 for two before they lost their last eight wickets for just 86 runs.

"It was a confidence boost the way we played [in parts] but also disappointing to play the way we did for 90 overs but we didn't manage to finish off," Chigumbura said.

On paper, an established cricket nation such as the 10th-ranked Zimbabwe should be far too powerful for UAE who scrapped into the World Cup as one of the final two qualifiers along with Scotland.

Zimbabwe's aim in the build-up to Thursday's match has been to correct problem areas that surfaced against South Africa.

"We have to make sure that we improve on things that we didn't do well from the first game," Chigumbura said.