John Ndlovu
HISTORY repeated itself in the do or die cricket match between Zimbabwe and Scotland after the Chevrons fell by the wayside as they lost by 31 runs at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo.
The loss means Zimbabwe has Failed to book a ticket to the ICC World Cup slated for India later this year.
The Chevrons lost by 31 runs, a fate which the gallant national team endured in 2018 as they were also denied a place to the global showpiece then by United Arab Emirates.
Both nations are Associate Nations.
A dark cloud endured Queens Sports Club as the fans were left in disbelief after the impressive run by Chevrons was brought to a halt.
Victory was all the Chevrons wanted to secure a ticket to India
Gone are the days when cricketers selection was based on merit rather than bias.
This was evidenced by the team’s depth which was poor as they heavily relied on Sean Williams, Shikandar Raza and Captain Craig Ervine who played a pivotal role in the Chevrons’ heroic moments in the group stages where they claimed a 100% record.
Zimbabwe won the toss and chose to bowl first, the Scottish capitalized on the conditions and set a target of 235 runs for the hosts. Something which became a tall order for the locals as they failed to replicate their group stages form as they lost four wickets for a paltry 37 runs where Joylord Gumbie was bowled out from the first delivery, while captain Craig Ervine was bowled out after only hitting 2 runs only.
Sean Williams also faced challenges with the bat as he was also bowled out after 4 overs.
Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl tried to pick the pieces as their partnership brought in 54 runs before Raza was bowled out after attaining 34 runs.
An unsung hero Madhevere tried by all means to reignite Zimbabwe’s hopes as his partnership with Ryan Burl produced a whooping 73 runs before he lost his wicket after hitting 40 runs from 39 balls.
Burl’s blistering form could not lift the Chevrons as he was bowled out for 83(84).
The defeat leaves Zimbabwe out of contention for a race to grab the ticket to the world cup due to inferior run rate thereby leaving Scotland and Netherlands who now have a chance to join table toppers Sri Lanka in booking a berth as this will be decided by their result in their match this Thursday.
Zim GBC News©2023