Sundaymail Editor
Zimpapers Sports Hub
The Zimbabwe A side put up a woeful batting display to go down to Canada by seven wickets in the third and final unofficial One-Day International (ODI) series at Harare Sports Club yesterday.
The North Americans in turn claimed the series 2-1.
Canada won the toss, put in Zimbabwe A to bat and skittled out the hosts for a paltry 190 runs inside 46.2 overs.
Antum Naqvi maintained his outstanding form, with his half-century forming the base of Zimbabwe A’s innings
The 25-year-old all-rounder yesterday scored a brilliant 86 runs off 102 balls, with his wicket signalling a huge collapse by Zimbabwe’s middle order and tail.
He was bowled out by Parveen Kumar in the 36th over to leave Zimbabwe reeling at 157 for six.
The last four wickets could only add on another 33 runs before Zimbabwe were bowled out for a paltry 190 runs.
Naqvi, in the end, finished as one of four Zimbabwe batters who managed to make double digit figures, the others being skipper Luke Jongwe (38), Matthew Welch (16) and Ainsley Ndlovu (12).
Ajayveer Hundal, Akhil Kumar and Shahid Ahmadzi finished as Canada’s pick of the bowlers, with the trio each claiming two wickets.
With 191 runs to chase down, Canada raced to the finish line with relative ease, anchored by Pargat Singh’s unbeaten century.
The 32-year-old top-order batter finished with an unbeaten 117 runs off 78 balls, which had a 150 percent strike rate and comprised 14 boundaries and four maximums.
The duo of opener Aaron Johnson and wicketkeeper/batter Shreyas Movva also chipped in with 31 and 16 runs, respectively.
The Zimbabwe bowlers also had a tough day in the office but this had something to do with the batting department’s failure to give them something to bowl.
The trio of Brad Evans, Naqvi and Jongwe each claimed a wicket.
The series between the two sides appeared evenly poised, with each team coming into yesterday’s encounter with a victory.
The hosts got the ball rolling by claiming the first unofficial ODI by four wickets, with Naqvi helping the Zim A side chase down 232 runs with a century of his own (105 runs off 73 balls) last Wednesday.
Canada then hit back by winning the second and third matches on Friday and yesterday, claiming four- and seven-wicket victories, respectively.
Online Reporter