The Spin | Zimbabwean breakout at T20 World Cup has fans rejoicing renaissance

Swelling fanbase has been in dreamland this past month as Zimbabwe have defied all expectations in the competition

Dean du Plessis could tell that Zimbabwean cricket had turned a corner by the noise of the crowd. The veteran broadcaster, who was born blind, has forged a remarkable career as a commentator by distinguishing the game’s almost imperceptible audio shifts. He can tell a slower ball has been bowled by the fractional delay before ball meets bat. He can tell if a batter has pressed forward or back by the scratch of spikes against the hard pitch. And he could tell, in 2018, that the sport he loved would never be the same again.

“When I was a teenager, cricket in Zimbabwe was almost exclusively played and supported by white people,” Du Plessis says. “And besides the accents and topics of conversation, you could tell this by the way they would applaud and chant. It had a particular energy. The most animated fans were usually the ones who had too much beer and hurled abuse at the players on the boundary.”

This is an extract from the Guardian’s weekly cricket email, The Spin. To subscribe, just visit this page and follow the instructions