In the ICC World T20 2014 Group B qualifier match between Zimbabwe and United Arab Emirates (UAE), Zimbabwe lost early wickets to find themselves in a precarious position, while chasing a score of 117. It was left to power-hitter, Elton Chigumbura to essay sparkling shots and take Zimbabwe to an impressive win by five wickets. He used his muscle power and deft placement to thwack strokes through the off-side. UAE spinners had no clue while bowling to him.
It was the left-arm seamer, Manjula Guruge who put up a fine show for UAE. He produced the early wicket of Hamilton Mazakadza by shattering his stumps. Guruge followed it up by scalping the wicket of Sean Williams with a well-disguised slower one. He used the left-armer’s angle and a slow wicket to his advantage.
Zimbabwe’s best player then Brendan Taylor got out to slow left-arm, Shadeep Silva. He was perhaps looking to up the ante and help Zimbabwe win by a huge margin, but the execution of his inside-out shot wasn’t up to the mark.
Earlier, Zimbabwe started off brilliantly after winning the toss and electing to bowl. UAE did comeback strongly with Khurram Khan and Swapnil Patil stitching a fine partnership, but once both batsmen got out, their innings fell apart and could only amass 116 for the loss of nine wickets in their allotted 20 overs.
It was Zimbabwe’s main seamer Tendai Chatara with his open-chested action who snared the early wicket of dangerous Shaiman Anwar by producing the edge of the bat that was duly taken by Brendan Taylor behind the stumps. Faizan Anwar followed him back to the pavilion, as a result of clever piece of fielding by Sikandar Raza.
Khurram and Swapnil though, seemed to have steadied the UAE ship. Swapnil, stayed leg-side off the ball to essay a few fine strokes through the off-side. Zimbabwean bowlers didn’t help themselves by offering him width. UAE’s best player and their captain, Khurram gave him valuable support. The left-handed batsman known for playing sweep shots used it to good effect against the leg-spinner, Natsai Mushangwe. Mushangwe bowled some wayward stuff.
Khurram was also good with using the depth of the crease to play short-arm pulls against spinners. Zimbabwe didn’t help their cause with some poor fielding that included overthrows. It was Khurram’s wicket that led to their downfall. He tried to sweep Sean Williams only to be caught at deep square-leg by Elton Chigumbara for 26. Once he was out, UAE lost their way completely and wickets fell at regular intervals. Kamran Shahzad essayed few lusty blows for UAE. In the end, it didn’t prove to be a good enough score, as Zimbabwe chased it down. Sean Williams was the chief wicket-taker for Zimbabwe with three wickets to his name.
Brief scores:
UAE 116 for 9 in 20 overs (Khurram Khan 26, Swapnil Patil 30, Kamran Shahzad 21; Sean Williams 3 for 15, Sikandar Raza 2 for 15) lost to Zimbabwe 118 for 5 in 13.4 overs (Elton Chigumbura 53*, Timcyen Maruma 22*; Manjula Guruge 2 for 18) by 5 wickets.
(Bharath Ramaraj, an MBA in marketing, eats, drinks and sleeps cricket. He has played at school and college-level, and now channelises his passion for the game by writing about it)
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