MATCH REPORT
Follow UsTwo days after securing ICC T20 World Cup 2022 qualification by beating Papua New Guinea by 27 runs, Zimbabwe have thrashed Netherlands in the final of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier B at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.
Entering the final unbeaten, Zimbabwe, led by Craig Ervine, won the toss and opted to bat. Skipper Ervine and Regis Chakabva got the team off to a flyer, Zimbabwe reaching the 30-run mark in 16 balls, but a flurry of wickets saw the hosts be reduced to 54/3. The collapse was then arrested by the pair of Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza, who added 39 runs for the third wicket.
But with the hosts finally starting to settle, Logan van Beek ran through the middle-order to reduce Zimbabwe to 98/6 and put the Netherlands right on top. Left-arm spinner Shariz Ahmad broke the Williams-Raza stand by dismissing the former, post which van Beek accounted for the wickets of Raza and Milton Shumba in consecutive balls. Things looked really bleak for the hosts at this point, but all-rounder Ryan Burl swung his bat and played a valuable cameo (15 off 11) to propel the total to 132.
133 was a target within the Netherlands’ reach, or at least that’s what the Dutch thought, but the Scott Edwards-led side were rocked by Zimbabwe’s trial by spin. A staggering 7 wickets fell to the slower bowlers as the Ervine-led side spun a web around Netherlands to bowl them out for 95 and win the contest by 37 runs.
Part-time off-spinner Wesley Madhevere opened the bowling and delivered body blows, removing Max O’Dowd and Bas de Leede in the same over. The two wickets opened the floodgates, post which the Dutch kept losing wickets at regular intervals: 45/3, 54/4 and 56/5. By this point the Zimbabwe spinners had taken full control of the encounter, but then the Netherlands were jolted further by the most unexpected of customers, Sikandar Raza, who picked not one, not two but as many as four wickets. Raza ran through the lower-order to finish with remarkable figures of 4-1-8-4.
The damage was done by all the spinners, but it was the pacers who wrapped up proceedings as Richard Ngarava and Richard Ngarava took a wicket a piece to seal victory for Zimbabwe.
Raza pocketed not only the Player of the Match award, but also the Player of the Tournament for finishing the competition with 228 runs and 5 wickets.
