Sikandar Raza of Zimbabwe plays a shot during a one-day worldwide against Sri Lanka in Kandy on January 18, 2022.. By Ishara S. KODIKARA (AFP)
Sikandar Raza struck 87 off 40 balls as hosts Zimbabwe crushed Singapore by 111 sudden spikes in demand for Monday to make an extraordinary beginning in their bid to meet all requirements for the 2022 Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.
Put into bat in the wake of losing the throw, Zimbabwe posted 236-5 out of 20 overs with Raza, Sean Williams (53) and skipper Craig Ervine (34) the main run producers at Queens Sports Club in southern city Bulawayo.
Singapore never seemed to be matching the run pace of the host group and oversaw only 125-7 with unbeaten Janak Prakash (32) top scoring and Surendran Chandramohan (21) the main other donor of note.
Tendai Chatara (3-14) and Blessing Muzarabani (2-21) were the best bowlers for Zimbabwe, who are looking for a 6th T20 World Cup competition appearance.
New Zimbabwe mentor and previous star batsman Dave Houghton had called for energizing, positive cricket from a group that last month experienced 3-0 series misfortunes to visiting Afghanistan in both white-ball designs.
Batting at number five, Pakistan-conceived right-hander Raza regarded the revitalizing cry with a man-of-the-match execution that included five sixes and eight fours.
"This was an extraordinary beginning. The mentor has underscored the need to begin the competition well as well as finish it similarly well. We want to fit the bill for Australia," said Raza.
"We believe the other seven groups should realize that not entirely set in stone to get one of the two passing puts on deal and I figure we did that all around well.
"The success over Singapore is history now. The focal point of my partners and I has proactively moved to the match against Jersey tomorrow."
Taylor ton for USA
A United States side including previous South Africa quick bowler Rusty Theron crushed Jersey by eight wickets in the other Group A conflict.
Jersey, one of four competitors in Bulawayo expecting to arrive at the T20 World Cup interestingly, made 154-5 off 20 overs.
Batting at number three, Asa Tribe struck an unbeaten 73, including six sixes, for Jersey, a little London-controlled island among England and France.
The USA outperformed that all out by arriving at 159-2 with 11 balls in excess and opener Steven Taylor (101 not out) featured. He confronted 55 balls and terminated five sixes and 12 fours.
Assuming Zimbabwe beat Jersey and the USA rout Singapore on Tuesday both will get semi-finals places, passing on the hosts and the Americans to battle for the lead position in the gathering on Thursday.
Four-time qualifiers the Netherlands satisfied their charging as Group B top picks with a 52-run triumph over Papua New Guinea.
The Dutch won the throw and posted 163-7 with Stephan Myburgh (39) top scoring while Semo Kamea and Charles Amini took two wickets each for the Pacific islanders.
Papua New Guinea were all out for 111 in 19.4 overs having never paired the Netherlands run rate. Sese Bau (35) was the main batsman to intrigue while Logan van Beek (3-17) was the pick of the Dutch bowlers.
Uganda shocked Hong Kong in similar gathering, winning by two wickets in a low scoring undertaking. Answering to 87-9, the Africans arrived at 88-8 off the third wad of the last finished.
Wins for the Netherlands over Hong Kong and Uganda against Papua New Guinea on Tuesday will seal semi-finals places.
The Bulawayo finalists will join 14 different countries at the T20 World Cup in Australia from October 16.
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