Head coach Stephen Mangongo  appreciated the magnitude of Sunday’s achievement, as Zimbabwe celebrated an historic three-wicket win over Australia in a key tri-series ODI fixture at the Harare Sports Club.

Three wickets apiece for seamer Donald Tiripano and spinners Sean Williams and Prosper Utseya restricted the Aussies to a modest total of 209 for nine, after which a commanding half-century from captain Elton Chigumbura capped triumph with two overs to spare.

“There are a lot of positive Zimbabweans who love sport. I’m sure you heard all the singing and the joyous, momentous occasion when Zimbabwe won and I’m sure those positive people are very happy that their team managed to win the game,” said Mangongo.

“There have been other occasions where Zimbabwe have pulled these odd wins, and I think it ranks as one of those times. We are also very pragmatic. It’s not many times that we’re going to beat number one and two teams in the world, so when it does happen I’m sure those positive people in Zimbabwe feel happy about it.”

Mangongo had been criticised for dropping batsman Brendan Taylor and suspending fast bowler Tinashe Panyangara for indiscipline recently. All-rounder Luke Jongwe, too, had been fined for breaking team curfew.

“I don’t feel vindicated because I had nothing to prove. I was just doing my job. We’ve still got our feet on the ground. We have to play out of our skins when we play the best in the world. We are a work in progress, and we hope to continue to improve and get better,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe Cricket have hired former seamer Douglas Hondo and wicketkeeper-batsman Wayne James as bowling and assistant coach respectively. Ex-skipper Alistair Campbell will soon replace the veteran Wilfred Mukondiwa as ZC chief executive officer.

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