Harare [Zimbabwe], June 24 : According to Zimbabwe's all-rounder Sikandar Raza his team showed "fight and courage" to defeat West Indies by seven-wicket in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Harare on Saturday.
Raza displayed an all-round performance against WI. He scored 68 off 58 balls and picked up two wickets in the match.
In the post-match presentation, Raza said, "All I asked from the boys, doesn't matter what skills we have. What we want is fight and courage, skills will look after itself. That's what we got today. Burl has been amazing, he has been hungry in the change room, he has shown dedication towards his batting. Great to see him get a 50 today, unlucky the way he was dismissed.
I personally felt we were 20-30 runs short, but we knew we could save them in the field. We have the hunger to get to India, to book that World Cup slot. Our fast bowlers are all good - Blessing, Tendai Chatara, Ngarava all chipped in. The bowlers won us the game today. I don't think we could win this game with skills alone, what we needed was the fan support and they turned up today. We'll now do a lap of honor for these fans."
Coming to the match, Zimbabwe was bundled out for 268 in 49.5 overs. Sikandar Raza (68 in 58 balls, with six fours and two sixes) and Ryan Burl (50 in 57 balls, with five fours and a six) slammed impressive half-centuries. The duo put on 87 runs for the fifth wicket. Skipper Ervine scored 47 in 58 balls, with seven fours.
Keemo Paul (3/61), Alzarri Joseph (2/42) and Akeal Hosein (2/45) were among the wickets for WI.
In the chase of 269, WI was reduced to 46/2 at one point. Knocks from Kyle Mayers (56 in 72 balls with eight fours and a six), Roston Chase (44 in 53 balls, with three fours), Nicholas Pooran (34 in 36 balls with three fours and two sixes) and skipper Shai Hope (30 in 39 balls with three fours) kept two-time champions alive. However, Zimbabwe bowlers kept their nerves and denied Windies their third straight win.
Tendai Chatara (3/52) was the pick of the bowlers for Zimbabwe. Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava and Raza got a wicket each as they bundled out Windies for 233.
Raza got another 'Player of the Match' for his all-round performance.
With this win, Zimbabwe is at the top of Group A with three wins in three matches, a total of six points. On the other hand, WI is at the third position with two wins and a loss, a total of four points.
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