Zimbabwe cricket team captain Graeme Cremer says it will be a different game altogether when they engage bogey side Afghanistan in a five-match ODI series which begins in Harare Thursday morning.

Cremer will lead the home side who seek to turn the tables after losing two and drawing one in the three ODI series played between the rivals since 2014.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, the legs pinner said they aim to use the knowledge of the wicket at the Harare Sports Club to end the bullying by the Associate.

Afghanistan have beaten Zimbabwe by identical 3-2 margins in the last two meetings at the Queens Sports Club in 2015 and in UAE early last year. With the threat of rains likely to decide some of the matches, the Zimbabwe skipper still aims for positive play.

“They (Afghanistan) play aggressive cricket which makes them a bit inconsistent. I didn’t play against them in Bulawayo but I played the series in Dubai.

“But playing at Sports Club it’s a different wicket and it’s a different game altogether. So I think we have an upper hand playing at Sports Club as opposed to Dubai and Bulawayo.

“We know the conditions better than they do, so whether we lose the toss and bat or bowl it will not really affect us but as for the rains there is nothing we can really do about it.

“As long as we play good cricket and it turns down to Duckworth/Lewis we should be able to come out on top of them,” said Cremer.

Zimbabwe coach Heath Streak was also positive. Even the 4-1 defeat of the Zimbabwe A side by their Afghan counterparts last week in an unofficial ODI series that was a dress rehearsal to the tour has not dampened the spirits.  

“I think we played inconsistent cricket and of course it’s not surprising given the fact that we had six weeks with the rains all around so we actually haven’t played any cricket.

“That’s not an excuse but you could see that towards the end of the series we started getting together and we played and finished that series with a good run.

“It was also an opportunity for us to test our young and inexperienced guys to see what their capabilities are and that’s very important about the A team to use it as a pathway for guys going to the national team  rather than us experimenting or exposing them at the national team level,” said Streak.