Zimbabwe through to semis

Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
Zimbabwe 146/8 (Williams 57, Jongwe 29*, Miles 2/25, Blampied 1/5) beat Jersey 123/5 20 overs (Carlyon 45, Burl 3/13, Chatara) by 23 runs

ZIMBABWE survived a scare to beat Jersey by 23 runs and book a place in the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier B at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo yesterday.

Man of the Match Sean Williams top-scored for the Chevrons with 57 off 39 deliveries, his second consecutive half century in the tournament, and an unbeaten 29 by Luke Jongwe down the order took Zimbabwe to 146/8 in 20 overs.

Some disciplined bowling by the Zimbabwean bowlers restricted Jersey to 123/5 in 20 overs, with their highest individual knock coming from Harrison Carlyon with 45.

Zimbabwe will play the United States of America, who have also qualified for the semi-finals, in their final group match at Queens Sports Club tomorrow.

The semi-finals will be played on Friday.

The clash between Zimbabwe and USA will determine who goes to the semis as the Group A champions.

Zimbabwe must win the match against USA tomorrow since their opponents top the group following two impressive wins.

USA defeated Jersey by eight wickets in their opening match on Monday and then thumped Singapore by 132 runs yesterday.

After losing the toss and being sent in to bat, Zimbabwe struggled to get runs on the board. They were reduced to 37/3 in 5.4 overs after the departure of skipper Craig Ervine, Regis Chakabva and Wessley Madhevere.

Williams, however, stood tall and notched up his ninth half ton in this format of the game. The left-hander got to the milestone with a boundary off the bowling of Julius Sumerauer.

After Williams fell, Jongwe ensured that Zimbabwe got a decent total with some good knocks.

To win, Zimbabwe had to ensure that their bowling and fielding was on point and they did just that. What was crucial for Zimbabwe was to stifle run scoring opportunities for Jersey to up the run rate.

Leg-spinner Ryan Burl bowled brilliantly to finish with three wickets for 13 runs in four overs. There was a wicket each for Tendai Chatara and Blessing Muzarabani. Chatara walked off the field holding his shoulder after falling awkwardly while fielding and Zimbabwe will be hoping he recovers in time for the match against USA.

In the afternoon match played at the same venue, Netherlands also secured their place in the semi-finals with a seven-wicket win over Hong Kong.

A hat trick by Logan van Beek saw Hong Kong being dismissed for 116 in 18.1 overs, with their captain Nizakat Khan top scoring with 60 runs.

Van Beek ended with 4/27 in four overs to walk away with the man-of-the-match award.