It was a proud day and moment for Zimbabwe as they took the field against Scotland and won the match. The win meant, Zimbabwe had reached the Super 12 stages for the first time in their history and that sparked massive celebrations for the team from the African continent.
The story as it happened –
Zimbabwe were placed in Group B alongside West Indies, Ireland and Scotland. the first match of the tournament saw Zimbabwe beating Ireland before losing to West Indies. The game on Friday against Scotland was an important one for both the teams as the winner goes into the super 12 stage. Ireland had already qualified after their win over West Indies earlier in the day.
ICC lauds Madhevere for his amazing catch –
Matt Cross and George Munsey were trying to stich a partnership after losing an early wicket. Richard Ngarava had Cross going for a pull shot off a short ball. Much to the horror of Cross, it was Wesley Madhevere who flung himself in the air to grab an amazing catch. ICC took to its official Instagram account and posted the catch and wrote “Superman or Madhevere “
George Munsey’s half century leads Scotland to score 132
Scotland won the toss and chose to bat first as Michael Jones was out for 4 early falling to Tendai Chatara. Post the fall of Cross for 1, Skipper Berrington and Munsey added 40 for the 3rd wicket before Berrington perished for 13. Macleod with 25 was the 2nd top scorer for Scotland.
It was 54* by George Munsey off 51 balls with 7 fours which was the top score for the Scottish. Chatara and Ngarava picked 2 wickets each, while Muzarabani and Raza picked a wicket each to restrict Scotland to 132.
Ervine and Raza combine to create history for Zimbabwe –
Skipper Craig Ervine lost his partner Regis Chakbva early for 4, and soon Madhevere followed him back to the hut for a duck. Ervine dominated the 3rd wicket stand with Williams to add 25, with Williams scoring 7 before being dismissed to leave Zimbabwe at 42/3.
That’s when Zimbabwe’s best batter Sikander Raza came to the crease and added 64 runs for the 4th wicket in 7 overs with Ervine. The wicket of Raza came with the score reading 106 and ZIM still needing 27 runs, as Raza scored 40 off 23 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes. Ervine was out for 58 off 54 balls with 6 fours. Milton Shumba and Ryan Burl saw the team through to an easy 5 wicket win with 9 balls to spare.
This win saw Zimbabwe qualify for the Super 12 stages for the 1st time in their history of T20I cricket world cup.