Zimbabwe stuns cricket world with 35-run win over West Indies in ODI World Cup qualifier

An exceptional all-round performance powered Zimbabwe to a stunning victory over two-time champions West Indies in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier on Saturday. The match held in Harare saw the victory of Zimbabwe and they won by 35 runs over the West Indies. With this impressive win, Zimbabwe now top Group A, having won all three matches and have earned a total of six points. At the same time, West Indies are in third place with two wins, one loss and a total of four points.

spirit of cricket#ZIMvWI , #cwc23 pic.twitter.com/IiOnE81IHt– ICC (@ICC) 24 June 2023

Zimbabwe’s team received a lot of encouragement from their home crowd and they took advantage of this with a remarkable victory over the West Indies. Chasing a target of 269 runs, Zimbabwe came back strongly by taking two important wickets in the first 10 overs. The breakthrough came after Brandon King (20) and Kyle Mayers (56 off 72 balls including eight fours and a six) got West Indies off to a solid start. Initially, West Indies looked in control during the first powerplay, Tendai Chatara scoring 14 runs in the third over.

However, Zimbabwe turned the tide in their favor when Blessing Muzarabani dismissed King for 20 runs in his first over. Left-arm fast bowler Richard Ngarawa got Zimbabwe’s second breakthrough by dismissing Johnson Charles (1) in the 10th over. He had a chance to take another wicket in the last ball, but unfortunately the fielder missed a direct run-out. The score was 55/2 at the end of the first powerplay and the match was still wide open.

Disciplined Zimbabwe bowling put the pressure on Shai Hope and Meares as they managed only eight runs from overs 11 to 14. However, Meyers broke the tie in the 15th over by hitting three consecutive fours. A crucial third-wicket partnership between Meares and Hope added 64 runs from 67 balls, helping the West Indies cross the 100-run mark. Wellington Masakadza of Zimbabwe brought success to the team by dismissing Meyers for 56 runs in the 21st over.

Nicholas Pooran, who came in at number 5, continued his aggressive batting style and made his mark by hitting three fours in quick succession. However, the talismanic Sikandar Raza ended any hopes of another match-changing partnership between Hope and Pooran when he cleaned up Hope for 30 runs in the 24th over. Pooran (34) then put on a patient 41-run partnership with Roston Chase (44) but his dismissal in the 32nd over swung the tide once again in Zimbabwe’s favour. Muzarabani put Zimbabwe in a strong position in the very next over by dismissing Rovman Powell for just 1 run.

After making their way to the West Indian tailenders, Zimbabwe’s bowlers continued to take wickets. Tendai Chatara made a fine comeback after a slow start and finished with figures of 3/52. Raza contributed two wickets in his exceptional batting performance, while Richard Ngarawa did a fine job dismissing Charles and Pooran. In the end, West Indies were bowled out for 233 in 44.4 overs, falling just short of Zimbabwe’s score. Earlier, Zimbabwe had a challenging start to the innings and West Indies inflicted significant shocks, but a crucial 87-run partnership between Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl helped Zimbabwe reach a respectable total.

Neither team got the lead during the first powerplay. The West Indies failed to take a single wicket, while Zimbabwe struggled to score runs at a rapid pace and managed less than four runs per over. It was the first time in 10 ODIs that the West Indies did not get a wicket during the powerplay overs.

Although Zimbabwe slightly increased their scoring rate afterwards, West Indies remained quick on the field and took advantage of their chances. In the 16th over, Joylord Gumby (26) was dismissed LBW by Keemo Paul and Wesley Madhevere (2) was caught at mid-on by Akil Hossein.
Zimbabwe relied on the experienced pair of Craig Ervine and Sean Williams to stabilize their innings, but their hopes were dashed when Ervine fell in an ill-timed attempt to reverse sweep his 58-ball 47. After this, Williams and Sikandar Raza took an aggressive stand against the West Indies bowlers. While he scored quickly, Williams was dismissed for 23 in the 25th over when he tried to hit a rising delivery from Alzarri Joseph over midwicket.

Centurion from the previous game, Raza stitched a partnership with Ryan Burl to revive Zimbabwe’s innings. The duo saved a few close chances before accelerating and playing their shots. They put on 87 runs from 94 balls for the fifth wicket, before Burl made 50 off 57 balls before being lbw to Hossein. Raza continued to score at a brisk pace and reached his half-century in the 42nd over by hitting two consecutive fours against Jason Holder.

Eventually, the all-rounder was dismissed for 68 after pulling a ball from Kyle Mayers towards Alzarri Joseph in the deep. West Indies came back in the final powerplay and took six wickets. However, some poor fielding towards the end allowed the last pair to add 25 runs from 15 balls. Zimbabwe’s innings ended on 268 runs in 49.5 overs. Keemo Paul (3/61), Alzarri Joseph (2/42), and Akil Hossein (2/45) were the leading wicket-takers for the West Indies. In the match, West Indies won the toss and chose to bowl first. Both the teams entered the match without making any changes in their playing XI.