HOBART: Zimbabwean captain Craig Ervine and right-handed batter Sikandar Raza shone in the run chase against Scotland as Zimbabwe sealed a commanding five-wicket victory to book ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12s berth.
Following their five-wicket victory over Scotland, Zimbabwe topped Group B and qualified for the Super 12s for the first time in tournament history.
Set to chase 133, Zimbabwe eased to the victory in the 19th over with five wickets to spare at the back of brilliant knocks of Ervine and Raza.
Zimbabwe were off to a poor start to their run chase as the side lost two wickets for a paltry seven runs in the second over.
Ervine then put on a gritty 35-run partnership for the third wicket with Sean Williams and stopped the flow of wickets.
Williams, on the other hand, who was struggling to get going, fell after managing to score just seven off 12 and Zimbabwe, as a result, slipped to 42/3 in eight overs.
Following the slump, Raza and Ervine stood up for their team and stitched a match-winning 64-run partnership.
Raza, who was the core aggressor of the fourth wicket stand fell in the 15 overs after a quickfire knock of 40 runs. He conceded only 23 deliveries and smashed three sixes and two boundaries.
While Ervine fell briefly after amassing his half-century, fell in the 17th over. He top-scored for Zimbabwe with 58 off 54 deliveries, laced with six boundaries.
Following their departure, Milton Shumba and Ryan Burl batted sensibly to power their side to victory in the 19th over as Zimbabwe finished at 133/5 in 18.3 Overs.
Following their qualification to the Super 12s, Zimbabwe will join Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, South Africa and the Netherlands in Group 2.
Batting first in an all-important last first-round fixture of the ongoing World Cup, Scotland could accumulate 132/6 in their quota of 20 overs despite Munsey’s half-century.
Scotland had a poor start to their innings as they lost two wickets for a mere 24 runs in the fifth over.
Skipper Richie Berrington and Munsey then attempted to anchor the innings and added 40 runs for the third wicket partnership.
The pair batted cautiously and conceded 32 deliveries before Berrington fell in the 10th over to Sikandar Raza. He could score 13 off 15.
Scotland then again witnessed a cautious partnership in the middle as Munsey partnered with Calum MacLeod for the fifth wicket that added 34 runs to the total.
Munsey top-scored for the side with 54 off 51 deliveries before falling in the 17th over. His knock remained a touch slow and failed to power Scotland to a massive total.
Besides Munsey, MacLeod was Scotland’s notable run-getter as he scored 25 off 26 deliveries.
For Zimbabwe, Tendai Chatara and Richard Ngarva bagged two wickets each, while Blessing Muzarabani and Raza struck out a batter each.
