Captain Craig Ervine scored an unbeaten 121 as Zimbabwe began their ODI World Cup 2023 qualifiers campaign with a comfortable eight-wicket win over Nepal on Sunday.
Zimbabwe skipper Ervine joined forces with Sean Williams (102 not out) as centuries from both batsmen powered the hosts to an eight-wicket win over Nepal chasing 291. And just a few miles down the road in Zimbabwe’s capital Jason Holder and Shai Hope helped West Indies 297 in a straight 39-run win over USA.
Erwin and Williams set up a sure win for the hosts
Player of the match Erwin put in a captaincy performance and his century helped Zimbabwe win over Nepal. Erwin and Williams? Whose 70-ball century has been marked as the fastest by a Zimbabwean batsman in One Day International cricket? The hosts confidently chased down Nepal’s 290 for eight as they combined to build a crucial 164-run partnership, led by a blockbuster 99 from Kushal Bhurtel.
West Indies proved too strong for USA to contend with
Holder, Hope, Johnson Charles and Roston Chase all combined to guide West Indies to a 39-run win over USA at the Takashinga Sports Club. All four of the West Indies stars scored half-centuries in the first innings and despite a brilliant century from Gajanand Singh for the Americans in reply, two wickets each for Kyle Mayer and Alzarri Joseph helped restrict the underdogs to a total of 258 for seven. helped in
US captain Monank Patel opted to field first in a decision that reaped almost immediate and surprising rewards in south-west Harare. Patel’s men needed just 2.1 overs to make the breakthrough as left-arm pacer Saurabh Netrawalkar had West Indies opener Brandon King lbw without scoring. And just three overs later it became a two when Kyle Phillip bowled Meares to leave Hope’s faltering side at 14 for two.
Hope and Charles soon began to rebuild the innings, producing a polished partnership of 115 as both batsmen hit half-centuries. But they were both dismissed in quick succession as Hope (54) fell to Nostush Kenzige and Charles was caught by Steven Taylor for 66.
Chase and Nicholas Pooran continued to attack the Americans as the experienced pair shared a crucial 50-run stand. Pooran played a flamboyant inning of 43 off just 28 balls with the help of three sixes, while Chase (55) scored a fifty off one ball.
Netrawalkar, Phillippe and Taylor soon began to tear apart the West Indian lower order, as Holder’s heroics at the other end, scoring 56 off just 40 balls, helped salvage his team’s innings.
American openers Taylor and Sushant Modani looked comfortable in reply before Holder made the breakthrough and scalped a flurry of early wickets.
The West Indies all-rounder removed Modani in the eighth over before Mayer joined the party to dismiss both Taylor and Patel. Joseph helped make more inroads into the American middle-order, but he faced considerable resistance from a combination of Singh, who made a battling century, Shayan Jahangir and Nostush Kenjige.
The fluent left-hander brought up his century in the final over of the innings when Jahangir scored 39 and Kenzige was dismissed at the other end for 34 not out. But the experienced West Indian attack proved too strong for the Americans as the two-time ODI World Cup champions got their campaign off to the right start.
Abbreviated Score:
Nepal 290/8 (Kushal Bhurtel 99, Asif Sheikh 66; Richard Ngarwa 4/43, Wellington Masakadza 2/42)
Zimbabwe 291/2 (in 44.1 overs)
West Indies 297 all out in 49.3 overs (Johnson Charles 66, Jason Holder 56; Saurabh Netwalkar 3/53, Steven Taylor 3/53)
USA 258/7 in 50 overs (Gajanand Singh 101 not out, Shayan Jahangir 39; Kyle Mayers 2/30, Alzarri Joseph 2/68).