Online Reporter
ZIMBABWE’s senior men’s cricket team failed to qualify for a major International Cricket Council (ICC) event for the fourth consecutive time following their third-place finish at the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup Africa Qualifiers, which ended on Thursday.
Their failure to qualify means that Chevrons will be the only Test nation absent from the T20 World Cup.
The qualifiers were held under a round-robin format with seven teams — Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Uganda and hosts Namibia.
The top two teams qualified for next year’s 20-team T20 World Cup, which will run between June 4 to 30, 2024 and will be co-hosted by the United States of America and West Indies.
The Chevrons wrapped up their participation with a 110-run victory over Kenya on Thursday.
After losing the toss and being put to bat first, the Chevrons put up 217 runs for four during their allotted 20 overs.
Skipper Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams led Zimbabwe’s batting charge, with scores of 82 runs off 48 balls and 60 runs off 26 balls, respectively.
In response, Kenya could only reach 107 runs for eight, with the Chevrons’ quartet of Raza, Richard Ngarava, Ryan Burl and Williams claiming two scalps each with the ball.
However, it was a classic case of too little, too late, as previous losses to Namibia (by seven wickets) and Uganda (by five wickets) returned to haunt the Chevrons in their pursuit for a place in next year’s T20 extravaganza.
Namibia and Uganda claimed the two slots with 10 points each on the log standings.
Namibia have a game in hand and are currently unbeaten with five wins from five matches.
Uganda beat Rwanda by nine wickets in their final game, ending the tournament with five wins and one loss.
Zimbabwe finished third with eight points from their six matches after winning four games and losing two.
