Williams magic sees Zimbabwe dominate; West Indies ahead despite Netherlands fight

Match 17: Zimbabwe won by 304 runs over USA, Harare Sports Club

USA were bowled out for 104 in pursuit of a massive target of 409 runs against Zimbabwe at Harare. This was the second-largest win for a team by the margin of runs. 

USA fell apart in the face of Zimbabwe’s gargantuan total. Richard Ngrava drew first blood when he had Steven Taylor (0) caught behind in the third over. In his very next over, he got Sushant Modani (6) to nick one behind the wicket. USA were in dire straits after skipper Monank Patel too fell in the sixth over to Brad Evans. 

It got even worse for the North American side, as Aaron Jones and Shayan Jahangir fell to run outs and Gajanand Singh was trapped lbw by Raza, in a space of nine deliveries. At 45/6, it seemed like USA might capitulate before they’d faced even half their allotted overs. 

They just about crossed the halfway mark, courtesy some gutsy batting by Abhishek Paradkar (24) and Jessy Singh (21) down the order. That however couldn’t prevent the North American side from succumbing to one of the heaviest defeats in ODI cricket. 

Sean Williams’s 174 from 101, guided the tournament hosts to a total in excess of 400.  

Along with his new partner at the top, Joylord Gumbie got the African side to a stable start. Together Gumbie and Innocent Kaia added 56 runs for the first wicket. Kaia eventually fell to Jessy Singh while going for a loft in the midwicket region. However, this brought Sean Williams to the crease, who continued his prime form against USA. In the 15th over, he hit 6,4,4 off Nisarg Patel’s bowling. 

The southpaw took the lead in his stand with Gumbie, and reached his half-century in merely 33 balls. He hits seven fours and two sixes on the way to this landmark. 

Williams steered the innings forward with his aggressive batting and added 74 runs in overs 26-35. He brought up his century off merely 65-balls. This was the second-fastest ODI ton for Zimbabwe.

Despite the loss of Gumbie, Zimbabwe skipper’s aggression kept them ahead in the game. Supporting him was Zimbabwe’s star performer in the Qualifier, Sikandar Raza. Together they brought up their fifty-run stand in merely 27 balls. 

By the time Raza fell for 48, the tournament hosts had already crossed the 300-run mark in the 43rd over. Ryan Burl then lifted Zimbabwe even further with a quickfire 47 off 16 balls. Williams eventually fell for 174 in the 49th over. 

USA skipper Monank Patel called it right at the toss earlier today and elected to take the field against the Chevrons. 

Monank returned from an illness that had kept him out of the last two games. Apart from him, Usman Rafiq and Abhishek Paradkar also made it to the XI at the cost of Ali Khan and Saurabh Netravalkar.

As expected, Zimbabwe rested several key players including skipper Craig Ervine, before the Super Six stage. Apart from Ervine, Tendai Chatara, Blessing Muzarabani and Clive Madande missed out on this game. In their places, Innocent Kaia, Luke Jongwe, Brad Evans and Tadiwanashe Marumani came in.

This was the first-ever meeting between the sides in the ODI format.

Match 18: West Indies- 374/6 vs Netherlands- 141/3 (25), Takashinga Sports Club

Vikramjit Singh and Max O’Dowd gave the Dutch courage with a positive start. They added 76 runs for the first wicket within the first 11 overs. Only the discipline of Jason Holder prevented them from going at an even higher scoring rate. 

Finally, it was Roston Chase who brought West Indies success with the ball. A mistimed reverse sweep from O’Dowd ended up in the hands of the short third man in the 11th over. In his very next over, Chase also accounted for Singh, who went for a massive heave but ended up placing the ball into the hands of Nicholas Pooran at deep mid-wicket. 

Wesley Barresi and Bas de Leede stitched a 38-run stand to stabilise the Dutch innings. Barresi eventually fell in the 22nd over, while trying to nudge a Akeal Hosein delivery behind the wicket. At the 25-over mark, the Netherlands still had recognized batters at the wicket, but the asking rate had crept to over nine runs an over. 

During the West Indies innings, an imperious ton from Pooran, along with crucial knocks from Brandon King, Johnson Charles, Shai Hope and Keemo Paul, helped West Indies post a solid total against Netherlands. 

The new opening pair of Brandon King and Johnson Charles unleashed a flurry of fours in the first powerplay. They hit as many as 13 boundaries in this period, even as the Dutch bowlers struggled with their lines and lengths. 

Together they added 101 runs for the first wicket before Charles (54) was trapped lbw by Vivian Kingma. However, King kept going from the other end and got decent support from Shamarh Brooks. He brought up his fifty in the 22nd over. 

West Indies were rocked by twin strikes from Saqib Zulfiqar in the 27th and 29th overs. After losing their set batters, King (76) and Brooks (25), the Men in Maroon were forced into a reconstruction phase. Skipper Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran expertly guided them through this period, and West Indies were among runs again in no time. Their century partnership came off merely 73 balls.

Bas de Leede and Logan van Beek then gave the Dutch supporters something to cheer about with three quick strikes in the space of 15 balls. However, guided by Pooran, West Indies managed to cross 350. Keemo Paul too played his role with a lively 46 from 25. 

Pooran scored his third ODI hundred during this innings. His century came off merely 63 balls, and was the third-fastest for West Indies in ODIs.

In the morning, Scott Edwards won the toss and decided to bowl first. Both sides made two changes each. 

West Indies brought in Shamarh Brooks and Romario Shepherd for Kyle Mayers and Rovman Powell respectively. For the Dutch, Saqib Zulfiqar and Vivian Kingma came in place of Shariz Ahmad and Ryan Klein.

Having lost their respective encounters to Zimbabwe, both sides have crucial Super Six points on the line in this game.