The Sunday Mail
Online Reporter
WHATEVER hopes Zimbabwe had of qualifying for the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup all but evaporated, as a five-wicket loss to the Netherlands knocked them out of the tournament in Adelaide, Australia, on Wednesday.
It was arguably one of the Chevrons’ worst performances of the year.
The game exposed the team’s batting weaknesses at the top of the order, and its over-reliance on Sikandar Raza.
Skipper Craig Ervine won the toss and elected to bat, a decision he would shortly live to regret as the Chevrons struggled to contend with the pace and consistency of the Dutch attack.
Zimbabwe lost three early wickets for a paltry 20 runs inside the first five overs of the match, scoring one of their lowest powerplay scores of the tournament of 20 for three.
Much like he has done time and again this year, Raza tried his best to rescue Zimbabwe on his way to scoring a 24-ball 40 that also featured a 48-run fourth-wicket partnership with Sean Williams (28).
The pair’s contribution ended up being the only talking point of Zimbabwe’s innings, as the Chevrons were skittled out for 117 runs.
None of the team’s other eight batters managed to make a double-digit score, the result of which was an easy chase for the Dutch.
And chase it down easily they did, led by a second-wicket partnership between Tom Cooper and opener Max O’Dowd.
The pair put together a 73-run stand (off 57 balls) that put the game beyond Zimbabwe’s grasp, with O’Dowd top-scoring for his team with 52 runs off 47 balls, while Cooper chipped in with 32 runs off 29 balls.
Seamers Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani took two wickets apiece, while Luke Jongwe ended with a single scalp on his way to one for 25 runs.
It was a sharp contrast to the Dutch bowlers, who completely dominated the Zimbabwe batting line-up.
Seamer Paul van Meekeren finished as the pick of the Dutch bowlers with three for 29 runs.
The trio of Brandon Glover, Logan van Beek and Bas de Leede chipped in with two wickets each, while Fred Klaasen finished with the solitary strike on his way to figures of one for 17 runs from his allotted four overs.
Scott Edwards finished the match the happier of the two skippers.
“Awesome,” said the Dutch captain.
“We came here to win some games at the Super 12, and it was good to get the ball rolling after a rocking start.
“The bowlers were sensational; the top four got us pretty close to the total, too,” he said.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said of Ervine.
“It was one of those tosses where we were split on whether to bowl or bat,” said the Zimbabwe skipper.
“I just thought that credit should go to the Netherlands for their powerplay bowling, which put us under the pump.
“Raza and Williams did really well to get us back into the game, but, unfortunately, we couldn’t finish it off,” he said.
