Tri Series, ZIM v WI, 6th ODI – 5 Talking Points

It was a lion-hearted performance by African minnows Zimbabwe as they beat West Indies by 5 runs (D/L method) after play was halted half way through the West Indies innings due to rain. West Indies again made a mess of their strong position and the rain gods didn’t help them either.

Batting first, Zimbabwe was looking down the barrel with the score at 89/7 but a brilliant partnership between Sikandar Raza and Tendai Chisoro for the 9th wicket bailed the hosts out of the precarious situation and eventually helped them to reach 218/8 in their 49 overs.

The bowlers bowled in the right areas and shocked the West Indies top order reducing them to 93/5 with Tendai Chisoro and Sean Williams both chipping in with two wickets each.

Courtesy their impressive win, Zimbabwe will meet Sri Lanka in the final of the Tri-Nation series on Sunday as they scraped the West Indies in the points table by a solitary point.

Here we give a look at 5 talking points from the rain truncated encounter

1. Devendra Bishoo’s brilliant bowling performance

Along with Ashley Nurse, Bishoo was the pick of the Windies bowlers finishing with 3/30 in his allotted 10 overs. The leg-spinner dismissed Brian Chari and the dangerman Hamilton Masakadza in quick succession to reduce them to 59/3. He bamboozled the batsmen with his guile and was well supported by Nurse.

Bishoo came back strongly in the 2nd spell dismissing the rival captain Graeme Cremer to put the breaks on the Zimbabwean line-up but Raza and Chisoro put up a valiant 91 run partnership to take Zimbabwe to 218.

2. Ashley Nurse picks up 3/27 in his 10 overs

To go with Bishoo, Nurse was also very effective as he kept taking wickets at regular intervals and was also very economical conceding only 2.7 runs per over. The right arm offie bowled in the perfect areas and waited for the Zimbabweans to commit a mistake.

First, he dismissed Craig Ervine trapped in front of the stumps and followed it up with Sean Williams wicket caught behind by Shai Hope. He was pretty good with his pace variations and his last wicket came in the form of Peter Moors who was bowled after missing a straight one.

3. Sikandar Raza and Tendai Chisoro’s brilliant 9th wicket partnership

Zimbabwe went off to the worst possible start and by the end of 37th over they were tottering at 127/8. In Tendai Chisoro, Sikandar Raza found an able partner as the duo slowly but steadily kept the scoreboard ticking along.

Raza played the sheet anchor’s role and was ably supported by Chisoro who chipped in with a quickfire 35 ball 42. Raza relied on singles and doubles to keep the scoreboard moving while Chisoro played the much needed big shots during the later stages of the innings to propel Zimbabwe to a competitive 218/8 in their allotted 49 overs. The tail-ender struck two fours and two sixes during his innings whereas Raza hit only three fours.

4. Tendai Chisoro’s impressive opening spell

Youngster Tendai Chisoro was brilliant in every department as the youngster bowled his heart out in the opening spell which reduced the visitors to 12/2 in 3 overs. Chisoro was charged up by his brilliant cameo with the bat and followed it up with a brilliant spell.

He dismissed Johnson Charles in the very first over taking a brilliant return catch. He followed it up with dangerman Evin Lewis’ wicket who scored a breathtaking century in the previous encounter against Sri Lanka. Rain gods smiled on Zimbabwe as no further play was possible after 27.3 overs of West Indies innings as they fell short by 5 runs according to Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) method.

5. Sean Williams brilliant spell in the middle overs

All-rounder Sean Williams has been a very important member of the Zimbabwe set up off late and did his reputation no harm, picking up two wickets in the middle overs to peg back the visitors.

Williams dismissed Hope in his first over to reduce West Indies to 35/3 and there was no looking back for the left-arm spinner. He continued to bowl in the right areas and was pretty economical finishing with 2/18 in 7 overs.

Williams’ 2nd wicket came in the form of dangerman Rovman Powell who was caught in the deep by Sean Williams while attempting a big hit.