By Razeen Gutta
A one day international win over the West Indies will give Zimbabwe a massive confidence boost as they seek ICC Cricket World Cup qualifying success on home soil.
With the schedule of the World Cup to be released on 27 June in Mumbai, the qualifying stage is heating up with two places up for grabs and ten teams eying a place in the group stages of the showpiece event.
Zimbabwe are playing host to World Cup veterans like Sri Lanka and West Indies while the likes of Netherlands, Scotland, Oman and Ireland seek to cause upsets of their own.
Saturday’s clash between the hosts and the Windies looked set to be one-sided in favour of the visitors, but some twists, turns and Sikander Raza magic ensured an historic day for Zimbabwe in Harare.
A target of 269 was set by Zimbabwe, with Raza getting to 68 off 58 while Ryan Burl made 50 off 57.
A Kyle Mayers half century with West Indies on 110/2 after 20 overs made it look all over, but the hosts would not give up.
Raza took 2/36 while his bowling partners chipped in with wickets all round to dismiss the Caribbean side for 233, sealing a 35 run win.
The result leaves Zimbabwe in a promising position going into the super six stage of qualifying, where only the top two teams will progress.
Should the African nation make it, one of the former world champions in Sri Lanka and West Indies would miss out for the first time in their history.
The super six stages will kick off on 29 June with the final on 9 July.
Pictured above: Sikander Raza
Image source: @lawrencebailey
