Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema, tinashe.kusema @zimpapers.co.zw
EVERYTHING that could have gone, went wrong.
That was the story as Zimbabwe’s unbeaten run at the ICC T20 World Cup came to a screeching halt after they were thrashed by 107 runs by the West Indies in a rather one-sided encounter at the Wankhede Stadium, India, yesterday.
The Chevrons won the toss and opted to bowl, a move that backfired as West Indies piled up 254 runs for six in their allotted 20 overs.
The Chevrons were bowled out for 147 runs.
Both Zimbabwe and the West Indies made the solitary change to their starting 11, with Richard Ngarava and Romario Shepherd coming in for Wellington Masakadza and Roston Chase, respectively.
Ironically, both players missed their team’s last two games with Ngarava experiencing back problems while Shepherd had a leg injury.
The changes, however, had little impact on the game as the day belonged to Shimron Hatmyer whose Player-of-the-Match performance was characterised with some powerhitting of the highest order.
The West Indies top-order batter should, however, count himself lucky as he was dropped twice by Tashinga Musekiwa on his way to 85 runs off 34 balls.
His match-winning innings included seven boundaries and seven maximums, and featured a 112-run off 52 balls third-wicket partnership alongside Rovman Powell that put the match beyond Zimbabwe’s grasp.
Powell also chipped in with 59 runs off 35 balls, which featured four maximums and four boundaries.
The West Indies batting order kept a healthy strike rate during their innings with the likes of Sherfane Rutherford chipping in with an unbeaten 31 runs off 13 balls while Romario Shepherd put up 21 runs off 13 balls.
On the other side, Zimbabwe’s bowlers struggled with skipper, Sikandar Raza, likely to look back on his decision to bowl first with regret.
The Wankhede pitch offered very little for his seamers and spinners while West Indies exploited the shorter boundary in India.
Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani were the pick of the Zimbabwe bowlers, taking two wickets each.
However, their economy was the worrying part with Ngarava finishing with two for 47 runs at 11.75 runs an over, while Muzarabani ended with figures of two for 42 runs at 10.50 an overs.
The rest of the Zimbabwe bowlers did not fare any better
Brad Evans and Graeme Cremer each took a wicket apiece but their four overs saw the duo concede 46 and 38 runs, respectively.
On the other hand, Sikandar Raza and Dion Myers bowled three and one overs and were dispatched for 52 and 19 runs, respectively.
There was very little to write home about Zimbabwe’s run chase aside of Brad Evans entertaining knock at the backend of the innings.
The usually reliable Tadiwanashe Marumani and Brian Bennett were back in the changing room before making an impact on the scoreboard.
Bennett was the first to go when he was bowled out by Akeal Hosein for his five runs off five balls, while Marumani put up 14 runs off eight balls before he caught by Hetmyer off the bowling of Matthew Forde.
Ryan Burl followed suit with a three-ball duck after he was caught by Hetmyer off the bowling of Hosein.
Raza did try to resurrect Zimbabwe’s innings, sharing a 32-run off 24 balls fourth-wicket stand with Dion Myers and then adding another 42 runs alongside Tony Munyonga for the fifth-wicket.
Unfortunately, West Indies’ spinners kept Zimbabwe in check, pegging them back with wickets each time they tried to mount a comeback.
Gudakesh Motie accounted for both Raza and Munyonga, bowling out the Zimbabwe skipper for 27 runs off 20 balls while he had the latter caught by Shamar Joseph.
Munyonga finished on 14 runs off 16 balls.
In the end, a total of six Zimbabwe batters failed to reach double-digit figures with Musekiwa and Cremer all falling for ducks during Zimbabwe’s tame run chase.
Evans did offer some entertainment at the backend of the innings and top-scored for Zimbabwe with 43 runs off 21.
He also shared 10-wicket stand with Ngarava that saw the duo pile up 44 runs off 19 balls.
Their stand is now Zimbabwe’s highest 10-wicket at the Men’s T20 World Cup, beating Ray Price and Greg Lamb’ s 10 runs.
Motie was the pick of the West Indies bowlers with figures of four for 28 runs while Hosein chipped in with three for 22 runs.
For Zimbabwe skipper, Raza, the match was a learning experience and he hopes the Chevrons bounce back in their remaining two games against India and South Africa.
“I think if we think about the change in venues and change in country, we will not learn anything.
“And for me, it is very important to learn from this game,” said Raza
“We don’t want to look for excuses. If we want to go through to the final, we have to win in every country, every venue,” he said.
Raza added that the team thought when they batted, the pitch would stay true, but it started to turn.
However, he still considers the match to have been a good learning experience.
Now, Zimbabwe turn their attention to India.
“Even though we are bruised, we will look to win and earn respect.
“Both teams have lost and we will try and be better,” he said
