Story by Raynald Ngwarati
The Zimbabwe national men’s cricket team cruised to their biggest win in history and the second biggest overall in international cricket, after thumping the United States of America by 304 runs in their International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup qualifier at Harare Sports Club this Monday.
In what has been jokingly described by the Zimbabwean cricket fans as an outright response to the United States-imposed sanctions, veteran all-rounder Sean Williams scored his seventh One Day International (ODI) century surpassing his previous personal best by a mile, with 174 runs off 101 balls coming off his bat.
Stand-in captain Williams had an outing to remember scoring the third highest individual score by a Zimbabwean batsmen, outscoring the opposition all on his own with a mammoth 174 runs to become the tournament’s leading run scorer.
Zimbabwe were in a class of their own with Joylord Gumbie 78(103) scoring his maiden half century in ODIs, while Sikandar Raza 48(37), and Ryan Burl 47(19) fell just short of half centuries before Tadiwanashe Marumani coined the dominant batting master class with a quick fire 18(6) to make sure Zimbabwe becomes just the 7th team to reach 400 runs in ODI’s, with England hitting the highest total that is 498 runs.
The game looked to swing along with the supporters mood, as it started slowly when just a few people had made their way into the stands.
However, as the game progressed and the Zimbabwe Cricket Supporters Union began their tricks, Sean Williams and Joylord Gumbie ran riot at the expense of USA bowlers.
The Castle Corner provided its usual treats, which filled the energy tanks of the Chevrons to produce their best display ever in front of their home crowd.
One would have thought that the Chevrons would slow down after making four changes to their squad, but instead, the Chevrons made a huge statement of intent as the tournament shifts to the Super Six stage.
Once again, Sikandar Raza and Richard Ngarava were clinical with the ball, claiming two scalps each, as only Abhishek Paradkar 24(31) and Jasdeep Singh 21(26) managed to make the scoreboard tick for the USA.
Much to the delight of bowling coach, Steve Kirby, all the bowlers used during the match grabbed at least a wicket, with Ryan Burl having the worst economy at 5.68.
Cheered by arguably the best cricket fans in the world, Zimbabwe barely put a foot wrong on the field, with an absolute all-round display across the three aspects of the game, which saw Zimbabwe getting three run outs.
Zimbabwe has now claimed six victories in ODIs for the first time since 1999 as the team looks invincible.
For the USA, the Chevrons’ victory adds just but misery as they pack their bags to depart from the beautiful country between the Zambezi and the Limpopo without a victory from their four Group A matches.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe has imprinted its footprints in the history of International cricket.
The next stop for the Chevrons is the Super Six, in which they will shift base to Bulawayo.
The Chevrons currently sit at the top of the Super Six table with 4 points gained from Group A and they need just two victories to make it to the World Cup in India later this year.
