tawandamusarurwa
Online Reporter
A Ryan Burl half-century and a Tendai Chatara five-for proved to be the difference as Zimbabwe A emerged victors over Pakistan A in the first unofficial One-Day International at Harare Sports Club on Wednesday.
Zimbabwe won by 24 runs.
Imran Butt, the Pakistan Shaheens’ skipper, won the toss and sent the hosts in to bat first.
The Zimbabwe Select side found themselves in a spot of bother early on after yet another top-order collapse.
Unfortunately, Zimbabwe lost five wickets for 64 runs inside the first 13 overs, leading many to believe that a sub-par total was on the cards.
The Innocent Kaia and Tadiwanashe Marumani opening experiment failed to produce any returns, as the latter was caught by the skipper off the bowling of Mir Hamza after scoring only a single run.
His opening partner did not fare any better, as Shahnawaz Dahani had him caught by Kamran Ghulam after only registering nine runs.
While it is still relatively early in the series, Kaia and Marumani’s struggles represent a problem that the country must find a solution to sooner rather than later, especially with the ICC Men Cricket World Cup Qualifiers just around the corner.
As has become the norm, the team had to rely on their middle order as Ryan Burl, wicketkeeper Clive Madande and Zimbabwe Select skipper Wellington Masakadza combined to bring some respectability to the hosts’ 234 all-out total.
The 234 runs turned out to be enough in the end largely due to Chatara’s heroics with the ball.
The seasoned seamer finished with five for 37 runs as the Zimbabwe Select side bundled Pakistan A for 210 runs.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter