Bulawayo: Hosts Zimbabwe beat Singapore by a record 111 runs in their first T20 match World Cup Global Qualifier B at the Queen’s Club here on Monday while the United States registered an eight-wicket win over Jersey.
Sent in to bat, Zimbabwe first proved costly for Singapore as the hosts posted a massive total in the first game of Qualifier B.
Regis Chakabwa and Craig Ervine got Zimbabwe off to a great start with half-centuries in the fourth over. Singapore soon fought back by dismissing Chakabwa and Ervin and Wesley Madhevere returned early for 2.
However, the visitors failed to build up the pressure and the experienced pair of Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza again opened a volley of sixes. His century took Zimbabwe to a mammoth score of 236/5.
In reply, Singapore struggled to hold on, losing their first wicket in the second over. Tendai Chatra then left Surendran Chandramohan and Aman Desai to stammer at 32/3 in four balls. There were a few small partnerships but with a bigger target the pressure on Singapore continued to mount. In the end, Zimbabwe posted a massive 111-run victory to restrict Singapore to 125/7.
In another match, the jersey started off slow, with the USA bowlers controlling the scoring rate in the opening overs. In the first 10 overs, three wickets fell for just 47.
However, the No. 3 batsman Asa Tribe was the only crusader for the jersey and his quick innings took him to a respectable total. He remained unbeaten on 73 for 45 as Jersey posted 154/5 in their 20 overs. Juan Theron and Nisarga Patel took two wickets each for America.
In response, the USA chase was a pretty straightforward affair. A modest target of 155 runs was no match for his batting firepower. Steven Taylor and Aaron Jones shared an 88-run stand for the second wicket despite losing their captain Monak Patel in the seventh over. When the second wicket finally fell in the 17th over, America were just 25 runs away from victory. Taylor scored an unbeaten 101 and registered an eight-wicket win with 11 balls to spare.
Brief Scores:
Zimbabwe 236/5 in 20 overs (Craig Ervine 34, Raza 87, Sean Williams 53, Amjad Mahboob 42/1) beat Singapore 125/7 in 20 overs (Janak Prakash 32, Aryaman Sunil 25, Tendai Chatara 14/3) by 111 runs.
Jersey 154/5 in 20 overs (Asa Tribe 73, Benjamin Ward 38, Theron 28/2) lost to USA 159/2 in 18.1 overs (Steven Taylor 101, Dominic Blampied 20/2) by 8 wickets
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