Skip to main content
Cricket

Heroic Zimbabwe stun New Zealand in first ODI

Zimbabwe defeated World Cup finalists New Zealand in the first one day international at Harare on Sunday thanks to a brilliant unbeaten century by Craig Irvine.

Chamunorwa Chibhabha (seen in this file picture) provided a steady start to Zimbabwe innings.
Chamunorwa Chibhabha (seen in this file picture) provided a steady start to Zimbabwe innings. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo
Advertising

Chasing a daunting target of 303 runs in 50 overs, the Zimbabwean batsmen showed excellent skill and temperament to reach the target with one over and seven wickets to spare. Irvine was unbeaten on 130 runs while Hamilton Masakadza scored 84 crucial runs at the top.

Earlier, the hosts chose to field after winning the toss. The Kiwis began on a shaky note losing both of its opening batsmen Martin Guptill and Tom Latham for 39 runs in 9 overs. However, a Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor laid the foundation of their innings with a 137 runs third wicket partnership.

Williamson was unlucky to have missed out on scoring a century as he was dismissed for 97. Taylor though completed a well deserved hundred and remained unbeaten on 112 runs.

The New Zealand scoring got a boost thanks to a rapid 43 of 32 balls by Grant Elliott. Among the Zimbabwean bowlers, Tinashe Panyangara managed to make an impression by taking two wickets for 50 runs.

The Zimbabwean innings got off to a solid start as Masakadza and Chamunorwa Chibhabha added 74 runs for the first wicket.

The arrival of Ervine, after the fall of Chibhabha’s wicket, only made things better for the hosts as the left handed batsman stroked his way to a glorious century. Ervine and Masakadza added 120 runs for the third wicket.

Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura provided good support to Ervine, who accelerated his scoring rate as and when it was needed. Ervine scored 13 runs from just 108 balls with the help of 11 fours and five sixes.

With his win, Zimbabwe have taken a 1-0 lead in the three match One Day series.

Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning

Keep up to date with international news by downloading the RFI app

Share :
Page not found

The content you requested does not exist or is not available anymore.