the win with a 2-point conversion.The Gop

While New Zealand have spent the last two weeks practising patience in anticipation of slow, low conditions in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe cannot wait to get started. They have waited 20 months to play a Test match since visiting Bangladesh at the end of 2014. They have not hosted a Test in almost two years and have not held one in Bulawayo in five. To say they are eager would be an understatement.My boys are ready, Makhaya Ntini, Zimbabwes interim head coach said. I say that because they have been waiting for too long to play Test cricket. This country is a Test country and we dont have enough of those. They have been waiting for too long to show how hungry they are.In preparation, Zimbabwes A side had two matches against South Africa A, the hosts lost the second one, and one against the touring New Zealanders, who also defeated them. Their on-field losses were magnified by the personnel problems due to injuries, which have effectively left an inexperienced attack.Tinashe Panyangara and Tendai Chataras injuries have left Zimbabwes squad with four other quicks who have two Tests between them. Njabulo Ncubes came five years ago, against New Zealand, and Donald Tiripanos against South Africa in August 2014. Taurai Muzarabani and Michael Chinouya are uncapped but have played 61 and 65 first-class matches respectively.Despite the new faces in his pace pack, Ntini insisted he was not nervous about how they will fare against batsmen like Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor. Me? No, I am not nervous. Its them that are going on the field. For me, its just to motivate them, to show them the way and make them believe. If they get selected, it is a very good chance to show what they are capable of, Ntini said. We are bringing new things in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has been one of the countries that has been neglected for quite some time. If they get an opportunity, they will utilise it to their full potential.Among the new things is the freedom to express themselves, something Zimbabwean players have previously steered away from as former coach Alan Butcher wrote in his book The Good Murungu, an account of his time in charge. Ntinis boisterous personality, and famously booming voice, has encouraged everyone around him to follow suit, tell some jokes and just generally have a little more fun.Its been good for us to have Makhaya. We were set in our ways for a long time where we didnt express ourselves. Makhaya, with the way he is, has brought out a few characters in the team which can only be good for us, Graeme Cremer, Zimbabwes newly appointed captain said.Cremer is hopeful that new attitudes will mean his team can make the mental shifts they need to compete in the longest format on a surface that will test the batsmen initially. Were a bit short on game time and we need to make a mindset change, from the white ball to the red ball, he said. Bulawayo will be a good batting wicket. Once you get in, you can score a lot of runs but it also a wicket where sometimes it is hard to get in. That first 18 balls youre not sure on the wicket, because it is probably a bit slower than normal.Cremers opposite number Williamson will also lead his team out for the first time but has not thought a huge amount about the feelings that may stir up. Instead, Williamson has been consumed by tactical preparation for unfamiliar conditions. conditions. His focus has been on finding different ways to be aggressive on a surface that could lend itself to letting the game drift.There may not be a huge amount of pace and bounce, so the word attacking [could mean something different]. We would like to attack and well certainly try to with bat and ball but at the same time, patience, and how you look to skin it, is the challenge, Williamson said. How attacking looks on some of these surfaces, it may not be four slips and two gullies because there might be no point in doing that. It might be looking at how you want to target different areas, where you want to limit scoring. And then if you have an opportunity and you take that wicket, certainly you go all out and try and get another couple. But we know it doesnt happen too quickly on these sorts of surfaces.For Zimbabwe, nothing has happened too quickly in Test-cricket terms for several years. They have long periods of inaction between short series and there is not much they can do to change that although Ntini does have a vision for how they can ensure higher-profile games in other formats. Every player hates being part of a country that needs to qualify for a bigger stage. My vision is that between now and 2019, Zimbabwe are not in a position to play qualifiers before they play in the bigger set-up, he said.Ntini was referring to Zimbabwes failure to quality for the main draw of the last World T20 tournaments, and their low ODI ranking which ruled them out of the Champions Trophy. However, should a two-division Test league come to pass, they will also find themselves in the bottom tier and Ntini wants to put them in a position to challenge that, something he knows will take more time than a two-match series against New Zealand. So for now, he just wants them to enjoy something they have waited a long time for.Vapormax 2 Clearance .Y. - New Orleans forward Anthony Davis was chosen Friday to replace the injured Kobe Bryant in the NBA All-Star game that will be played in his home city. Off-White x Nike VAPORMAX Black White . Los Angeles star goalie survived those perilous gymnastics with no problem, and he eventually backstopped the Kings to a skid-snapping win. Quick stopped 27 shots in his return from a 24-game injury absence, Jeff Carter scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:55 to play, and the Kings snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. http://www.clearancevapormax.com/nike-vapormax-black-cherry-clearance.html . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. Cheap Vapormax 2020 China . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. Cheap Vapormax 97 . NBA officials ruled the court unplayable in the Bucks final exhibition game on Oct. 25 because players were slipping, and the game was cancelled midway through the first period.The Big Ten heavyweights spent the first three weeks of the season beating up on lesser opponents while climbing the rankings. With five teams in the top 15 of The Associated Press Top 25 , more than any other conference, its time for the Big Ten to get to work.The schedule on Saturday is full of big-time matchups. Third-ranked Ohio State visits No. 14 Oklahoma, No. 4 Michigan hosts improving Colorado, No. 12 Michigan State travels to No. 18 Notre Dame and Nebraska hosts No. 22 Oregon.In the new playoff era, meaty matchups like these in the nonconference may become more common. One of the main components in the selection process for the four-team playoff is strength of schedule, so power programs can no longer afford to pad the first month of their schedules with no-name schools that get paid to take a beating.I think youll see more and more of it, Nebraska coach Mike Riley said. It looks like a unique way, different way, that people are starting their season with their non-league games, like were playing and like we saw right from the first weekend. I think it adds a lot of intrigue and excitement to it.And there are more than just playoff implications.When the Buckeyes go to Norman on Saturday, the Sooners will be hosting several sought-after recruits that Ohio State coach Urban Meyer would love to land as well. Come out of the game with a win in front of some of the most talented high school players in the country, and they could win more than just a game.Our performance in this game, theres going to be a lot of people watching, and that certainly is important, said Meyer, whose Buckeyes outscored Tulsa and Bowling Green by a combined 102 points.And finally, games like these help teams gear up for the grind of the conference season that looms just around the corner.This will be a great game for our team to see where we are against a team thats nationally ranked and has been a national team for a lot of years now, Riley said. It will be really good for the Huskers in preparation for what were going to see as the season goes on.Other notes from around the Big Ten:IOWAS CHALLENGEThe Hawkeyes are facing an FFCS team this weekend.dddddddddddd So they can relax with another tuneup, right? Not so fast.North Dakota State is coming to town on Saturday. The Bison have won five straight national championships and are 8-3 in their last 11 games when they step up in weight class to face an FBS opponent. And they are not afraid.My experience is the biggest difference is just depth and overall numbers, coach Kirk Ferentz said. But the guys they put out there are just tremendous players. Theyve got a lot of guys that look like guys we play with that may have gotten overlooked a little bit in recruiting.CLAEYS APPROACHWhen Minnesota scored late to go up 30-23 against Oregon State on opening weekend, coach Tracy Claeys got some attention for his decision to go for 2 points to make it a two-possession game. Claeys has long believed that if the conversion fails and his team still only leads by seven, most teams would kick the extra point if they scored a late touchdown to try to force overtime rather than go for the win with a 2-point conversion.The Gophers handled Indiana State with ease on Saturday. But Claeys said if they had been in a similar situation against the Sycamores, he would have kicked the extra point for an eight-point lead.A smaller school, an underdog on the road, if they would have went down and scored, they probably would have went for 2, Claeys said. The majority of teams, we will go for 2 down there.STRUGGLING WILDCATSNorthwestern is 0-2 on the season, with eyebrow-raising losses to Western Michigan and Illinois State. They are 211th in the nation in offense, and coach Pat Fitzgerald said Northwestern needs better play from its offensive line if things are going to start turning around.Id love to tell you its an easy fix, Fitzgerald said. Its guys doing what theyre supposed to do when theyre supposed to do it and coaches coaching them better. Its not rocket science here. Its roll your sleeves up and get better. Thats what we did today and hopefully we can do it again tomorrow. ' ' '