ASHLEY DUBE
What was meant to be a relatively tricky chase was clawed down with relative ease as the sensational Sikandar Raza was in spectacular form; clubbing his way to the fastest One Day International hundred by a Zimbabwean.
His heroics resulted in the Zimbabwe national cricket team beating the Netherlands by a massive 6 wickets in the Chevrons' second game of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023.
Zimbabwe won the game with 9.1 overs to spare.
Raza’s unbeaten 102 came from 54 balls, surpassing the record of his teammate Sean Williams whose 102 against Nepal came from 70 deliveries.
The splendid all-rounder wowed the always-vibrant Harare Sports Club crowd with a boundary-laden innings which included six fours and eight sixes. His was a magnificent cricketing display.
The last maximum by Raza secured the victory for Zimbabwe.
Sean Williams' role in the run chase should not be underestimated as his controlled aggression on his way to 91 off just 58 deliveries was also the major highlight for the day. He was unfortunate in not getting his second hundred in as many matches.
The platform was set up top as Ervine continued his rich in vein form with a run ball 50. Joylord Gumbie was solid with his 40 (off 55 deliveries) albeit fortunate as he was dropped twice by the Dutch.
Raza also had shone with the bowling earlier in the day as he was the pick of the Zimbabwe bowlers with career best figures of 4-55 after putting the Dutch to bat first, on a belter of a track suited for batting.
The opening pair of Max O' Dowd and Vikramjit Singh put on 120 for the opening stand.
Raza chipped away getting wickets in between as well as Richard Ngarava whose variations were brilliant as they tried to curb the Dutch from running away with the match.
Skipper Scott Edwards was brilliant as he put on 83 from 72 balls as they put 315 on board which proved to be all in vain as the Chevrons outgunned the Dutch when they came on to bat.
Sikanda Raza was named Player of the Match.
Nepal vs USA
At Takashinga Sports Club, Nepal also clinched a six-wicket victory over USA although the match was a relatively low-scoring encounter.
The Americans were put to bat first and they were in all sorts of trouble as Nepal made early in-roads. USA were 18-4, and were staring a below par total.
However a good recovery act led by centurion Shayan Jahangir aided in putting a fairly competitive total before they were bowled out for 207.
Nepal closed the run-chase professionally with 42 balls to spare.
0 Comments