Latest News

Zimbabwe stun West Indies to storm into Super Sixes with full points

Published

2 years ago

2023/06/25

Priyan

Sikandar Raza is pumped up after dismissing Shai Hope

Before the game, West Indies were favourites. At the halfway mark, West Indies remained favourites. And at the midway point of the chase, West Indies were arguably even stronger favourites. Yet, somehow, improbably, preposterously, it’s Zimbabwe that emerged winners by 35 runs, in front of a raucous crowd in Harare.

By virtue of this win, Zimbabwe carry over a strong net run rate into the next round, and two points from this game as well as the same from their win against Netherlands. With a tricky game against Sri Lanka to come in the Super Sixes stage, these could prove vital in boosting their qualification chances – the top two teams from the Super Sixes book their passage to India for the World Cup.

West Indies and Netherlands, the other two teams that are through to the Super Sixes from this group, will now battle to carry over two vital points themselves when they meet on Monday.

The stats from today will show that Sikandar Raza was yet again Player of the Match, picking up two wickets to go with his 58-ball 68. It will show that the under-fire Tendai Chatra with figures of 3 for 52 was the pick of the Zimbabwe bowlers. And it will show Alzarri Joseph with an inconsequential 2 for 42. But this a game that took place within the margins.

It all began rather cagily, with Zimbabwe put into bat on a good batting track but one that was expected to provide some early movement for the seamers. The West Indies seamers, particularly Joseph, exploited the favourable conditions expertly, deriving extra bounce off a good length and moving the ball in the air and off the surface. While it wasn’t exactly an overcast morning in Auckland, it nevertheless brought out the more cautious side of openers Joylord Gumbie and Craig Ervine. By the end of the 10th over they had reached just 37.

West Indies were playing the part in the field too, hurrying behind every lost cause and throwing themselves around to gain any edge. The pressure eventually would tell midway through the 15th over, when Ervine would chip an attempted loft straight to mid-on. But the chance would be spilled – a theme that would recur throughout the innings.

Ervine would eventually fall for 47, but that was 22 extra runs from the point he was dropped. These extra runs would add up. The most egregious missed opportunities though would come off Raza, who was dropped on 1 and 7 off Joseph on the way to what would be a match-winning 68. Ryan Burl would be the other batter to enjoy a second life, being grassed on 39 on his way a fifth ODI fifty.

For West Indies, these would be particularly disappointing in that even discounting these missed chances, their bowling was so effective Zimbabwe were still limited to a subpar 268 – a score Ervine and Raza conceded was about 30 runs short of what they would have liked.

The final 10 overs of Zimbabwe’s innings went for 75 runs, 25 of which came courtesy a streaky last-wicket stand between Chatara and Blessing Muzarabani. That partnership though highlighted the spirit in which Zimbabwe played this game, as the crowd cheered every run and every extra like it were a boundary.

It was this momentum that was carried over into Zimbabwe’s fielding effort, where despite a rollicking start from the West Indies openers – they put on 43 in 6.3 overs – the hosts managed to reel it back, picking up two quick wickets, and then stringing together a period of such sustained pressure that they strung together 16 straight dot deliveries.

All the while, the crowd was amping up, never losing hope. Not even when Kyle Mayers broke loose and struck Muzarabani for a hat-trick of boundaries, nor when his partnership with Shai Hope was reaching threatening levels. And especially not when Mayers holed out at long-off.

For a brief period Hope and Nicholas Pooran looked threatening in a 24-run stand, but then Hope was castled by Raza. Pooran then strung together 41 with Roston Chase, inclusive of some monster hits down the ground, but then Richard Ngarava returned to trap him leg before with a dipping in-swinger on middle and leg. Was it going down leg? Perhaps. But there was no DRS for it to matter. In a game of such fine margins, it was scarcely out of place.

And this would continue to be the pattern of the game. West Indies would chip away, threaten to pull clear, and Zimbabwe would reel them back. The crowd raised their tempo throughout; with each subsequent wicket it would get louder, until eventually the West Indies batters were gradually worn down.

When nudging it around and singles would have sufficed, Keemo Paul would be trapped lbw looking to reverse-sweep. Jason Holder, having put together 37 with Roston Chase, would fish outside the off stump and edge through to the keeper. Chase would be the penultimate man to fall, chopping on trying to cut one that was too close to cut. The last would be Joseph, the man who had had so many chances put down, flicking low and hard straight to a catching midwicket, with none other than Raza stationed there.

Should West Indies miss out on the big prize – that spot in the 2023 World Cup – it’s a game they will look back on and wonder how it came to be. And so, indeed, might Zimbabwe.

Brief scores:

Zimbabwe 268 in 49.5 overs (Sikandar Raza 68, Jaylord Gumbie 26, Craig Ervine 47, Sean Williams 23, Ryan Burl 50; Alzarri Joseph 2-42, Keemo Paul 3-61, Akeal Hosein 2-45) beat West Indies 233 in 44.4 overs (Brandon King 20, Kyle Mayers 56, Shai Hope 30, Nicholas Pooran 34, Roston Chase 44; Tendai Chatara 3-52, Blessing Muzarabani 2-33, Richard Ngarva 2-25, Sikandar Raza 2-36) by 35 runs

(Cricinfo)

All News Advertisement

Up Next

CEB land in Maussakale to be leased to UAE investor

Don't Miss

Colombo win VAAJ Junior League

Priyan

Click to comment

Latest News

IPL 2025: Kohli and Hazlewood break Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s home duck as Rajahstan Royals botch another chase

Published

1 hour ago

2025/04/25

Priyan

Virat Kohli scored his first home fifty of IPL 2025 [Cricinfo]

At some point, you’d think the toss gods would show Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) a little mercy at home. But once again, the coin turned its back on Rajat Patidar. This time, though, the bad luck ended right there as they posted 205 for 5, their highest total at home this season. For all that, another heartbreak loomed, but RCB turned it around sensationally to clinch their first home win – and perhaps their most dramatic win at any venue – of IPL 2025.

The losing side were Rajasthan Royals (RR), who came into this contest having let back-to-back games slip out of their control in the final over. Their tension seemed to have defused when Dhruv Jurel , having scratched his way to 18 off 23, found his hitting range, and when he and Shubnam Dubey ransacked 22 off Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 18th over, the equation came down to 18 off 12.

Then came Josh Hazelwood. He was ice-cold in the moment, producing a masterful 19th over of unhittably steep bounce – conceding just one run and taking two wickets, of Jurel and Jofra Archer in successive balls.

It was left to Yash Dayal, the same man who had held his nerve in a now-legendary last over to deliver their previous home win, against Chennai Super Kings last season. And he delivered as RR lost by 11 runs after having the chase in their grasp for so long.

The M Chinnaswamy Stadium erupted. RCB had finally found their voice at home and, with it, a long-overdue win that put them in the top three. For RR, this was a fifth straight loss that left them on the brink.

With 17 needed off ten, Hazlewood conjured a moment of magic – a pinpoint wide yorker that Dhruv Jurel shaped to scythe but appeared to miss. With little conviction, Patidar opted for a caught-behind review. Technology confirmed what only Jurel might have known – a faint under edge that carried low to Jitesh Sharma. A seemingly innocuous dot turned into a game-changing strike.

Jurel, who had weathered a slow start and was just beginning to ignite, walked back, and with him went RR’s best hope. But Hazlewood wasn’t done. He cranked up a hard-length ball next that cramped Archer for room. It was as if Archer had been served a dish of his own, cold. The ball ballooned to cover, where Patidar pouched it gleefully.

If Hazlewood’s final over, the 19th, was theatre, his penultimate over was no less telling. Having seen balls angled across the left-handers disappear, he went around the wicket to Shimron Hetmyer and pounded the surface with venom. Hetmyer tried to nudge him away but only managed a feather of an inside edge through to Jitesh. Only six runs came off that over, the 17th, and RCB’s grip got firm.

Long before the chaos of the death overs, RR were cruising. Yzshaswi Jaiswal had lit the Chinnaswamy up with a power-packed 49 off 19, and Nitish Rana was stroking it with finesse. At 110 for 2 in nine overs, the chase seemed to be on autopilot.

It’s here that Krunal Pandya was summoned and he delivered a breakthrough first ball when Riyan Parag, looking to muscle a slog sweep, only managed a top edge that settled into Jitesh’s gloves.

At the other end, Suryash Sharma was equally impressive. Mixing up quick, skiddy legbreaks with the odd wrong’un, he kept the pressure on. RR managed just one boundary from the tenth to the 13th overs. Under rising pressure, Rana went for a release shot in the 14th, only for Bhuvneshwar to pluck a catch on the second attempt at short fine leg. Krunal now had figures of 3-0-19-2. The strangle was on.

Half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal laid a strong foundation after Phil Salt’s scratchy 26 off 23, while a late dash from Tim David and Jitesh lifted RCB to 205 for 5. Kohli overcame a streaky start to get to a composed fifty in 32 balls. His early duel with a fiery Archer was, in particular, thrilling. Meanwhile, Padikkal made the most of two dropped chances to notch up a second straight half-century.

Just as the platform was set for a lift-off, RR struck back, removing Kohli, Padikkal, and Patidar in quick succession. But David and Jitesh picked up 42 runs in just 19 balls to cap the innings with a flourish. In a match that swung wildly from one side to the other, those closing overs turned out to be the difference between a defendable total and yet another heartbreak.

Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 205 for 5 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 26, Virat Kohli 70, Devudutt Padikkal 50, Tim David 23, Jitesh Sharma 20*; Jofra Archer 1-33, Sandeep Sharma 2-45, Wanidu Hasaranga 1-30) beat Rajasthan Royals 194 for 9 in 20 overs (Yashaswi Jaiswal 49, Vaibhav Suriyavanshi 16, Nitish Rana 28, Riyan Parag 22, Dhruv Jurel 47, Shimron Hetmyer 11, Shubham Dubey 12; Josh Hazlewood 4-33, Bhuveneshwar Kumar 1-50, Yash Dayal 1-33, Krunal Pandya 2-31) by 11 runs

[Cricinfo]

Latest News

All schools will be closed on 5th and 6th May for LA elections

Published

17 hours ago

2025/04/24

Priyan

The Ministry of Education has announced that all schools will be closed on 05th and 06th May 2025, for the Local Authorities Election which is scheduled to be held on 6th May.

Latest News

“School Nutrition Programme’’to continue, without interruption

Published

1 day ago

2025/04/24

Priyan

The Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake stated that the government has taken a policy decision to continue, without interruption, “School Nutrition Programme’’ aimed at reducing anemia among schoolchildren, which is being implemented with the assistance of the World Food Programme.

He made these remarks on Wednesday (23), during a discussion held at the Presidential Secretariat with representatives from relevant Ministries and government institutions involved in the programme, along with officials from the World Food Programme, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Pathfinder Foundation.

The school meal programme, aligned with the government’s initiative to provide nutritious lunch to primary school students in districts identified as having high levels of malnutrition, specifically targets the reduction of iron deficiency among schoolchildren. The initiative is jointly coordinated by the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, the Ministry of Health and Mass Media, Provincial Councils, the Food Promotion Board and the Partnership Secretariat for the World Food Programme Cooperation. The government has allocated Rs. 32 billion for this programme for the current year.

A pilot project is currently being implemented in four selected districts. Based on a formal health and nutrition study assessing the outcomes of this pilot project, there are plans to expand the programme island-wide. The study aims to determine the extent to which iron deficiency among schoolchildren can be reduced through this initiative.

As part of the programme, fortified rice enriched with iron and folic acid will be included in the school meals to specifically address anemia among students.

The World Food Programme, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gateway Foundation and the Pathfinder Foundation have pledged their continued support for this effort.

Present at the occasion were Secretary to the Prime Minister Pradeep Saputhanthri, Senior Additional Secretary to the President Kapila Janaka Bandara, Secretary to the Ministry of Education Nalaka Kaluwewa, Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Mass Media Dr. Anil Jasinghe, and Secretary to the Ministry of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment Malarmathy Gangatharan, along with other government officials and representatives from partner organizations.

[PMD]