The Sunday News
Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE sent a strong message to their opponents when they made light work of Netherlands with a brilliant all-round performance to win the One Day International cricket series decider by seven wickets, victory achieved with 50 balls remaining at Harare Sports Club yesterday.
Playing in front of a buzzing crowd, Zimbabwe were sent in to bowl first and restricted the Dutch to 231/9 in 50 overs before they went on to put a brilliant effort with the bat, finishing on 235/3 in 41.4 overs to clinch the series 2-1.
After two poor performances in the opening matches, the Zimbabwean bowlers got back to their best with the veteran, left arm spinner Sean Williams finishing as the leading wicket taker, taking 3/41 in 10 overs while off spinner Sikandar Raza had 2/55 from the same overs.
Man of the Match Sean Williams
Tendai Chatara, Richard Ngarava, Wessly Madhevere and Blessing Muzarabani all picked up a wicket each to help the Chevrons keep their opponents to the lowest first innings score of the series.
There were no milestones from the Dutch batting order with the top scorer being Max O’Dowd with 38 runs coming from 43 deliveries while the skipper Scott Edwards compiled 34 runs from 41 balls and Musa Ahmed chipped in with a 43-ball 29 runs.
Zimbabwean openers, Craig Ervine and Madhevere put up a 96 runs first wicket partnership before the skipper, Ervine fell six runs short of his half century on 44 runs from 55 balls while Madhevere scored his first half century of the series. He fell for 50 runs off 61 balls.
Craig Ervine and Wessly Madhevere running between the wickets
Gary Ballance, coming in to bat at number three saw the team through with his first half century of the series as well, remaining undefeated on 64 runs from 72 balls.
Gary Ballance top scored with 64 not out for Zimbabwe
Williams scored 43 runs off 53 deliveries before he was bowled by Fred Klaasen. Raza’s nine-ball 18 runs saw Zimbabwe convincingly take the series.
Ahmad and Klaassen took the only wickets for the Dutch with the former taking two and the latter taking one.
This win is a big boost for the Chevrons as they prepare for the International Cricket Council (ICC) 2023 World Cup Qualifiers which will be hosted in Zimbabwe in June.
The victory also saw the hosts extend the gap between them and their opponents on the ODI Super League standings.
The Super League serves as a pathway for direct qualification to the World Cup in India in October.
Both teams however missed out on direct entry and will be hoping to secure the two remaining spots that will be up for grabs in June.
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