NEW: Chevrons in do-or-die clash against Scotland on Friday

Online Reporter

Despite suffering a 31-run defeat at the hands of West Indies on Wednesday, Zimbabwe are on the verge of writing their own history as they are just a win away from qualifying for their first-ever ICC T20 Super 12.

Having lost the toss and sent to field by a West Indies team that was under pressure to win, it took the brilliance of Sikandar Raza to give Zimbabwe a fighting chance with bowling figures of 3 for 19 in his four allotted overs.

Zimbabwe restricted West Indies to a modest 153 runs in 20 overs, a figure which proved too big for Zimbabwe following the collapse of its middle order.

But despite the 31-run defeat, which left Group B open with all the teams sitting on two points and only separated by the Net Run Rate (NRR), they all stand a chance of qualifying for the Super 12.

Scotland lead the group with a +0.76 NRR, followed by Zimbabwe with a NRR of 0 and West Indies in third position with a -0.28 NRR, while Ireland anchors the group with NRR of -0.47.

With a probability of rain in Hobart – the host city for Group B – on Friday, it is Zimbabwe and Scotland that stand a better run rate to qualify.

Regis Chakabva, Zimbabwe captain, is confident the Chevrons could qualify on Friday.

“We went in with the confidence that we would get there. We lost one too many wickets in the first 10 overs.

“Credit to West Indies and Alzarri Joseph. He opened up the gates for them and bowled brilliantly. I thought the pitch played very well throughout, and didn’t think conditions changed at all. The boys are still pretty confident,” he said.

“We are disappointed how short we ended up being after such a good start. But we will look to bounce back on Friday.”

Zimbabwe blew the chance of booking a place in the Super 12 after a middle-order collapse at the hands of Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph, who claimed three and four wickets, respectively.

The brilliance of Joseph and Holder was aided by some poor shots by Zimbabwe batters.

Having been sent to field, Zimbabwe had a bright start to their bowling innings, getting their first wicket in the fourth over when Kyle Mayers was caught from behind by Regis Chakabva off a Blessing Muzarabani delivery.

With a wicket down in the fourth over, West Indies managed to add 21 more runs before the end of the first power play in the sixth over.

Steadying the ship for the two-time ICC World Cup T20 champions was Johnson Charles and Rovman Powell, who managed scores of 45 and 28, the highest for West Indies.

West Indies were restricted to 153 for the loss of six wickets, with Raza leading Zimbabwe wicket-takers with three wickets from four overs for 19 runs.

Muzarabani managed two wickets, while Sean Williams claimed one wicket.

And with a target of 154 runs to chase, it all seemed to be going according to plan for Zimbabwe as they managed to get 18 runs in the first over of their innings.

Zimbabwe were to lose their first wicket of the day in the third over when Chakabva was bowled out by Joseph to open West Indies wicket flood gates.

Zimbabwe were to lose their second wicket in the fifth over when Joseph bowled out Tony Munyonga, who was making his debut for Zimbabwe after coming in as replacement for captain Craig Ervine just before the game.

Ervine was ruled out of the tie due to a mild asthmatic attack.

Despite Zimbabwe’s top order failing to deal with the West Indies bowling attack, Wesley Madhevere stood firm for Zimbabwe, scoring 27 runs off 19 deliveries before he was bowled and caught by Jason Holder in the seventh over, his 50th international T20 wicket.

Sean Williams was a letdown for the Chevrons as he was sent back to the pavilion for a single after he was caught by Nicholas Pooran in the sixth over.

Raza, who hit 82 runs off 45 deliveries in the opening match on Monday, failed to live up to his billing with the bat as he was sent off 14 from eight deliveries.

With top and middle order crumbling, it took the intervention of Luke Jongwe to give Zimbabwe chances of qualifying for the Super 12 with his 29 off 22 deliveries.