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Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE all-rounder Sikandar Raza got a huge boost ahead of his return to the national cricket team colours after his side Lahore Qalanders were crowned champions of the Pakistan Super League on Saturday.
Raza became only the second Zimbabwean to win the PSL after fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani, who wrote his own piece of history with Multan Sultans in 2021.
And now, it was Raza’s turn. Although the Zimbabwean had a subdued game in the final, Lahore still managed to hold on to a one run win in a tight contest against Multan Sultans at the Gaddafi Stadium.
Raza was part of history as Lahore Qalandars became the first team to defend HBL Pakistan Super League title. Lahore Qalandars won their first title last year, against reigning champions Multan Sultan.
The teams met again in the finals this year.
But Raza only faced two balls and was quickly dismissed for a single as Lahore Qalanders piled up 200/6 in their 20 overs. He did not play a part with the ball but the job was still completed by his teammates who restricted Multan to 199/8.
The victory was engineered by their captain Shaheen Afridi’s blasting 15-ball 44 not out and an incredible spell of death bowling that saw him return overall figures of four for 51.
Multan Sultans needed 13 runs in the final over, bowled by Lahore Qalandars’ last over specialist Zaman Khan. The equation had come down to four off the last ball, and Multan Sultans could get only two off a Khushdil Shah mishit before he was run out at the non-striker’s end.
The match had swung like a pendulum in the last five overs as Multan Sultans needed 60 with seven wickets in hand. Shaheen removed Kieron Pollard with a cutter after being whipped for a four in the 16th over that cost 11. Raza played most of the games for Lahore Qalanders during the Pakistan Super League season. He was expected to head back home in time for the three-match One Day International series between Zimbabwe and the Netherlands, which begins tomorrow at the Harare Sports Club.
With Raza and Ryan Burl back from their franchise cricket commitments abroad, the side has also been bolstered by the return from injury of Sean Williams, Tendai Chatara and Muzarabani.
The five players missed the Test series against the West Indies in Bulawayo last month, with Muzarabani having been sidelined since last November when his old quadriceps muscle injury flared up while playing for Zimbabwe at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
Williams fractured a finger while Chatara suffered a thigh muscle injury during the white-ball series against Ireland in Harare in January.
They are now all fit again, much to the delight of coach Dave Houghton, who is aiming to use the series as part of his team’s preparations for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 that will be hosted in Zimbabwe from June 18 to July 9 to decide the final two participants for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India later in the year.
The selectors have also retained Gary Ballance, Innocent Kaia, Wellington Masakadza and Richard Ngarava in the squad to face the Netherlands.
The first ODI match between Zimbabwe and the Netherlands is scheduled for tomorrow, with the remaining two on Thursday and Saturday. All games will be played at the Harare Sports Club.
The Netherlands delegation arrived in Zimbabwe on Friday with a 17-member squad led by Scott Edwards. They have made one change to the original squad, replacing Bas de Leede with 19-year-old Aryan Dutt, after the fast bowler was ruled out because of a heel injury.
The Dutch side played a warm-up game against a Zimbabwe XI Select yesterday and were bowled out for 191 runs in 42.5 overs. The tourists, however, still managed to squeeze home to a nine-runs win, thanks to Paul van Mekeren’s 4-27.
Zimbabwean all-rounder Johnathan Campbell was also in devastating form with his bowling figures of 4-35 in 10 overs.
Teenage batsman Brian Bennett, who recently graduated from the Zimbabwe Under-19 cricket side, was in brilliant form after scoring 53 from 62 balls.
Zimbabwe ODI squad:
Gary Ballance, Ryan Burl, Tendai Chatara, Craig Ervine (captain), Bradley Evans, Innocent Kaia, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Brandon Mavuta, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams
The Netherlands ODI squad:
Scott Edwards (captain and wicketkeeper), Colin Ackermann, Musa Nadeem Ahmad, Shariz Ahmad, Wesley Barresi, Tom Cooper, Aryan Dutt, Brandon Glover, Vivian Kingma, Fred Klaassen, Ryan Klein, Aryan Dutt, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren, Teja Nidamanuru, Max O’Dowd and Vikram Singh
Online Reporter