Sikandar Raza hit Zimbabwe's fastest ODI hundred in the chase.
ICC
Hosts Zimbabwe produced a second big chase in succession to continue their fine start to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 in Harare.
Sikandar Raza’s unbeaten century carried his team to a six-wicket victory over the Netherlands as Zimbabwe successfully chased down the target of 316 set by the Dutch.
That follows an opening victory over Nepal in Group A, leaving Zimbabwe in a good position in the race for a spot in the Super Six.
Nepal bounced back from that opening loss to record their first win of the campaign, as they beat the USA by six wickets.
Bhim Sharki was the star of the show, making 77 not out, as Nepal chased down 211 against the US, who have now lost twice in as many matches.
Zimbabwe batters step up in chase again
Two days after chasing down 291 against Nepal, Zimbabwe found themselves with an even bigger target to achieve against the Netherlands.
But an unbeaten 102 from Sikandar Raza saw them home in comfortable fashion, reaching 319 for four with 55 balls remaining.
Raza reached his century off just 54 balls, the fastest ever by a Zimbabwean in ODI cricket.
Raza was spectacular with the bat, smashing eight sixes in his 54-ball knock as he carried on the good work of skipper Craig Ervine (50) and Sean Williams (91).
The Dutch had looked in good position at the halfway stage, making 315 for six as Vikramjit Singh (88) and Scott Edwards (83) gave them a dream start to their tournament.
Singh and Max O’Dowd (59) put on 120 for the first wicket before Raza bowled O’Dowd, before getting Wesley Barresi out in the same way.
A 96-run partnership between Singh and Edwards continued the Netherlands’ fine batting effort with Raza again the man to find the breakthrough, removing Singh, on the way to figures of four for 55.
Richard Ngarava (2/40) chipped in with a couple of useful wickets, including the skipper, but Saqib Zulfiqur’s 34 not out off 31 balls ensured the Dutch went into the interval feeling good.
Zimbabwe needed to start quickly and they did just that, Ervine and Joylord Gumbie (40) putting on 80 for the first wicket before the captain was removed by Singh.
Gumbie and Williams then added another 62, and while Shariz Ahmed claimed the wicket of the former, as well as Wessly Madhevere, Zimbabwe were comfortably keeping up with the asking rate.
Raza joined Williams and the pair added 84 in ten overs to ease any tension, and while Williams eventually departed, it was left to his partner to complete a magnificent all-round performance to see the side home.
Nepal up and running with US success
Having suffered the same fate as the Dutch against Zimbabwe, Nepal needed a win against the USA, and got it by six wickets.
Karan KC (4/33) did the damage with the ball to restrict the Americans to 207, before Bhim Sharki carried Nepal home with seven overs to spare.
Karan was sensational early on after Nepal had chosen to bowl first, taking four wickets in the first ten overs to reduce the USA to 18 for four.
Sushant Modani (42) and Gajanand Singh (26) started to rebuild, adding 47 before the latter edged Dipendra Singh Airee to slip.
That brought keeper Shayan Jahangir to the crease and he counter-attacked in style, making 100 not out from just 79 balls as wickets continued to fall at the other end.
Gulsan Jha (3/52) finished the job with an over to spare, rattling through the tail to leave Nepal with 208 to win, despite Jahangir’s maiden ODI century.
Despite Aasif Sheikh falling leg before to Saurabh Netravalkar for 12, that total never looked like being enough, Kushal Burtel (39) and Sharki adding 49 for the second wicket.
Skipper Rohit Paudel and Kushal Malla both made starts before falling, leaving Nepal on 137 for four as Airee joined Sharki.
Any danger of a collapse was quickly averted though as the pair added 74 to carry Nepal to a comfortable win.
Ireland look to get back on track against Scotland
Attention will turn back to Group B on Wednesday when Ireland take on Scotland in Bulawayo in one of two games.
Having fallen to defeat to Oman in their opener, Ireland will be keen to make amends at the Queens Sports Club against the Scots, who will be playing their first game of the tournament.
The other game sees Oman looking to build on that Ireland success when they face the United Arab Emirates.
The UAE were comfortably beaten by Sri Lanka in their first game and will now face an Oman team full of confidence in the encounter at the Bulawayo Athletic Club.
Scores in brief
Zimbabwe beat Netherlands at Harare Sports Club, Harare by six wickets
Netherlands 315/6 in 50 overs (Vikramjit Singh 88, Scott Edwards 83; Sikandar Raza 4/55, Richard Ngarava 2/40)
Zimbabwe 319/4 in 40.5 overs (Sikandar Raza 102*, Sean Williams 91; Shariz Ahmed 2/62)
Nepal beat USA at Takashinga Cricket Club, Harare by six wickets
USA 207 all out in 49 overs (Shayan Jahangir 100*, Sushant Modani 42; Karan KC 4/33, Gulsan Jha 3/52)
Nepal 211/4 in 43 overs (Bhim Sharki 77, Dipendra Singh Airee 39*; Steven Taylor 1/14, Saurabh Netravalkar 1/29)
Wednesday 21 June – Fixtures
Group B
Ireland v Scotland at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
Oman v United Arab Emirates at Bulawayo Athletic Club, Bulawayo
Record-breaking Root edges England closer to Sri Lanka victory
Joe Root hit a record-breaking century as England edged closer to sealing their series victory over Sri Lanka at Lord's.
Root, who equalled Alastair Cook's record during the first innings of the second Test, made 103 from 111 balls for his 34th Test ton.
England resumed on 25-1 at the start of day three, with Root leading the way for the hosts and the crowd rose as one when a sweeping four completed his landmark century.
He helped his nation set their opponents a target of 483 after they were 251 all out.
As the light faded over Lord's, so too did Sri Lanka's momentum in their record-attempting chase, with Gus Atkinson and Olly Stone claiming Nishan Madushka and Pathum Nissanka respectively.
Play was eventually halted due to bad light, and called off to be resumed on Sunday with the tourists at 53-2 with Dimuth Karunaratne (23) and Prabath Jayasuriya (three) at the crease.
Data Debrief: Root revels on record-breaking day
Day three of the second Test belonged to Root, whose century was also his quickest in Test cricket.
Adding to his 143 in England's first innings, he registered two tons in a match for the first time, while becoming only the fourth player to achieve that feat in a Test at Lord's.
Root also joins Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar in scoring 5,000 Test runs in two different decades, while closing the gap on Cook's all-time England tally (12,472) to just 95.
If that was not enough for him, he also took the catches for both of Sri Lanka's wickets, making him the first England player to reach 200 in Test cricket.
Last Hurrah: Dwayne Bravo to call time on CPL career after this year's edition
Former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo says this year’s edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be his last hurrah as he announced his retirement from the tournament on Saturday.
Bravo, who represents the Trinbago Knight Riders, made the revelation on his Instagram account hours ahead of the franchise’s opening contest against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in Basseterre, scheduled for 7:00pm.
“It's been a great journey, and I'm looking forward to playing my final professional tournament in front of my Caribbean people," Bravo said in his post.
“TKR is the place where everything started for me and will end with my team,” he added.
The 40-year-old’s post all but indicates the end of a decorated professional career, as he retired from international cricket in 2021 after the T20 World Cup and also announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) a year later after being part of four title-winning Chennai Super Kings campaigns.
Bravo, known for his flair and skillful batting and bowling, is currently the CPL’s highest wicket-taker with 128 scalps in 103 games at an average of 22.40 and economy rate of 8.69.
In fact, Bravo is the leading wicket-taker in all T20s, with 630 scalps in 578 matches. He has also scored 6,970 runs with the bat.
No doubt the electrifying Trinidad and Tobago stalwart will go down as one of T20's early legends, having played seven World Cups in the format, winning two titles, as well as over 15 franchise league titles. He is the first bowler to get to 500 T20 wickets.
CWI targets domestic T20 competition in 2025 to identify Caribbean representative(s) for 2028 Olympic Games
Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Dr. Kishore Shallow says plans are already afoot to host a domestic T20 competition next year to determine the Caribbean representative(s) for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Shallow, once again welcoming cricket’s return to the Olympic Games, pointed out that his administration is already in dialogue with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) hierarchy to stage the domestic competition in 2025.
Cricket, which last featured at an Olympic Games in 1900, was always set for a long-awaited return to the global multi-sport showpiece, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year confirmed it and four other sports—baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse, and squash—for the LA Games.
“To add cricket to the agenda in the next Olympics is certainly going to be something tremendous, as we did in the Commonwealth Games a couple years ago when we had one of our teams representing the females. We at the time chose our original women’s tournament, and the winner at the time was Barbados, so they represented the region,” Shallow said.
“We anticipate something similar will be done unless they tell us all the teams can come and participate, which would be ideal, but it is unlikely for that to happen,” he added.
Shallow also explained that the CPL champions cannot represent the region at the Olympic Games given that the tournament is franchise-based and involves players from other parts of the world.
As such, he revealed that he has engaged CARICOM leaders regarding plans for a domestic T20 competition from which the winner or top finishers would secure the coveted Olympic Games spot(s).
“We have been in discussion with CPL for them to fund a domestic T20 tournament starting next year. I think Miles Bascombe and his team have already scheduled a window for that next year in 2025. Once we are able to have that tournament, then we can use that to determine which team or teams will participate in the Olympics on behalf of CWI,” Shallow shared.
“We can’t use the CPL as it is now because it’s franchises. But in the domestic tournament that we’re having, which will still have a commercial model to it but not to the extent of CPL, but that will more than likely be territories instead of franchises, so we will be able to identify teams,” he noted.
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