Zim beat UAE Top: Sean Williams (right) of Zimbabwe shakes hands with Amjad Ali (left) of UAE while Elton Chigumbura looks on after their four-wicket victory and Williams and Elton Chigumbura celebrate
  • Sean Williams inspires Zimbabwe with an unbeaten 76

  • His innings lead Zim to highest ever World Cup run chase

Top: Sean Williams (right) of Zimbabwe shakes hands with Amjad Ali (left) of UAE while Elton Chigumbura looks on after their four-wicket victory and Williams and Elton Chigumbura celebrate

Top: Sean Williams (right) of Zimbabwe shakes hands with Amjad Ali (left) of UAE while Elton Chigumbura looks on after their four-wicket victory and Williams and Elton Chigumbura celebrate

Sean Williams demonstrated calm nerves under pressure on his way to an unbeaten 76 that helped Zimbabwe secure a four-wicket win over the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in their International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup match at the Saxton Oval in Nelson, New Zealand.

It was Zimbabwe’s second Group B match, following the first which South Africa won by 62 runs at the Seddon Park in Hamilton, New Zealand, on Sunday.

Williams and Craig Ervine (42) had to come to the rescue of their side with a crucial 83-run partnership after the UAE bowlers had reduced Zimbabwe to 167 runs for five wickets in the 33rd over of their innings.

Captain Elton Chigumbura then came in after Ervine fell to see his side past the 286 target with two overs to spare. He finished with 14 not out.

Earlier, after being put in to bat, the UAE had exceeded expectations by posting 285 for seven — their highest ever total in One-Day International cricket.

The bowling effort for Zimbabwe did not start well when Brendan Taylor dropped Andri Berenger off his first ball in what looked like a straight-forward chance.

Berenger made 22 runs off 36 balls before following Amjad Ali (7) back to the pavilion with the score on 40 for two after 10.5 overs.

The UAE pulled it together after the early setback, thanks to Shaiman Anwar who anchored the innings with a quick-fire 67 runs off 50 balls, and was ably supported in an 82-run partnership by wicketkeeper Swapnil Patil (32), while Khurram Khan (45) and Krishna Chandran (34) also produced an 82-run third-wicket partnership.

The impetus at the back-end of the innings came in the form of the eighth-wicket unbroken partnership of 53 between Amjad Javed (25*) and Mohammad Naveed (23*) who put on 53 between them to see out the allotted overs and post a competitive total.

For Zimbabwe, their troubles with the death overs continued as they struggled to bowl UAE out — let alone contain them. But Tendai Chatara stood head and shoulders above the rest, finishing off with three wickets for 42 runs in 10 overs.

Zimbabwe’s run-chase got off to a watchful start as the opening pair of Sikandar Raza Butt and Regis Chakabva did not get anything loose.

With the run-rate escalating, Raza took the attack to the UAE bowlers and rushed to 46 off 44 balls, but he got out cheaply after he gifted point with an easy catch.

Meanwhile Chakabva, in the side for the injured Chamunorwa Chibhabha, had been watching Raza at the other end plundering the bowling to all parts but he struggled to rotate strike and eventually fell in bizarre fashion by stepping onto his stumps while on 35.

Hamilton Masakadza (one) had a rare failure, and Solomon Mire was elevated up the order to bat at six but he only managed nine runs.

Brendan Taylor kept the scoreboard ticking at will in the middle overs and looked set on 47, but he attempted to sweep a full delivery from Nasir Aziz and was struck low on his front pad. He was given out but reviewed the decision only for technology to show the ball would have hit the middle stump.

Ervine and Williams alleviated any jitters with their sixth-wicket partnership, which saw Williams register his 18th one-day 50, before Ervine departed with Zimbabwe needing 36 off 42 balls.

Williams won the match in style with three consecutive boundaries in the 48th over to complete Zimbabwe’s chase, with Elton Chigumbura offering support at the end.

The victory ended Zimbabwe’s losing streak of seven matches stretching back to their famous three-wicket win over Australia in Harare last August. Zimbabwe’s next ICC Cricket World Cup Group B match is against the West Indies at the Manuka Oval in the Australian capital Canberra, on Tuesday. — Zimbabwe Cricket.

You Might Also Like

Comments