Vusimuzi "Vusi" Sibanda (born 10 October 1983) is a

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er. He has played international cricket for the

Zimbabwe cricket team The Zimbabwe national cricket team, also known as the Chevrons, represents Zimbabwe in men's international cricket and is overseen by Zimbabwe Cricket (formerly known as the Zimbabwe Cricket Union). Zimbabwe has been a Full Member of the Int ...

in all three formats of the game. He also played for Midlands in the

Logan Cup The Logan Cup is the premier domestic first-class cricket competition in Zimbabwe. It is named after James Douglas Logan. History The first recorded cricket match in what was known at the time as Rhodesia was played in August 1890 near Fort V ...

Early career

Sibanda is a right-handed opening batsman and showed potential as a teenager, graduating from the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy and being fast-tracked into the national team. He grew up in Highfields, Harare and was spotted early on by developmental coaches, and earned a scholarship to Churchill Boys High. He currently plays domestic cricket for

Mid West Rhinos The Mid West Rhinos is one of the four cricket Zimbabwean cricket franchises. They are a first-class cricket team, based in Midlands Province and the Mashonaland West area. They play their home matches at Kwekwe Sports Club in Kwekwe. History ...

International career

He made his ODI debut in 2003 against the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

and made 58. Sibanda however struggled at international level from there on in, not scoring another half century for 18 innings, making at one stage 3 consecutive ducks. In May 2005 his place in the national team came under threat by the imminent return of the 'rebel' Zimbabwean cricketers who walked out on the team in a dispute with

Zimbabwe Cricket Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), previously known as the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) until 2004, is the governing body for the sport of cricket in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe Cricket is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), and administers th ...

. The return was unsuccessful and Sibanda again became a regular at the top of the order for Zimbabwe, making his maiden ODI hundred in 2006 against Bermuda in the Caribbean Tri Nations Tournament. He made a return to international cricket (although he denied ever retirin

for the Africa XI in the 2007 Afro-Asia Cup. He played in two of the three ODIs, scoring 80 runs at an average of 40.00. Although Sibanda wasn't playing initially in the 2011 Cricket World Cup and injury to Sean Williams meant a call-up for him. He scored 61 off 57 balls in an innings that included 7 fours. Zimbabwe reached 308/6. Sibanda was included to the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 for Zimbabwe as the opening batsman with skipper

Hamilton Masakadza Hamilton Masakadza (born 9 August 1983) is a Zimbabwean former cricketer, who played all formats of the game for Zimbabwe. He captained the national team during 2016 ICC World T20, but was relieved of his duties due to an indifferent performanc ...

. He scored his maiden T20I fifty of 59 from 54 balls against Hong Kong on 8 March 2016, during first match of group B in qualifying round. Zimbabwe won the match by 14 runs and Sibanda won man of the match award as well.

Career summary

Tests

Test Debut: vs

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

, 2003–2004
Latest Test: vs

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council ...

, 2011–2012 *Sibanda's best Test score of 93 was made against New Zealand, Harare, 2011.

One-day internationals

ODI Debut: vs West Indies,

, 2003–2004
Latest ODI: vs Asia XI,

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, 2007 *Sibanda's best ODI score of 116 *His best ODI bowling figures of 1 for 12 came against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Birmingham, ICC Champions Trophy 2004

References

External links

Cricinfo page on Vusi SibandaHowSTAT! statistical profile on Vusi Sibanda
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sibanda, Vusi Zimbabwe One Day International cricketers Zimbabwe Test cricketers Zimbabwe Twenty20 International cricketers Zimbabwean cricketers ACA African XI One Day International cricketers CFX Academy cricketers Midlands cricketers 1983 births Living people Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup Mid West Rhinos cricketers