NELSON, New Zealand — Zimbabwe tasted its first victory of the World Cup Thursday but not before it was given a fright by the tournament minnows from the United Arab Emirates. The Africans' four-wicket win at Nelson's Saxton Oval came with 12 balls to spare and was set up by an 83-run sixth wicket partnership between Sean Williams and Craig Ervine.
Williams, the man-of-the-match, finished on 76 not out. But until the Zimbabwe middle-order duo's rescue mission the amateurs from UAE, led by a banker and an airline purser — both aged 43 — had threatened a huge upset.
After being sent into bat, the weekend warriors posted a UAE all-time record one-day international total of 285 for seven and then reduced the Test-playing Zimbabweans to 167 for five in the 33rd over.
But it was unable to maintain the pressure, allowing Zimbabwe to break away with Williams hitting a boundary to end the closest match in the tournament so far.
It gave Zimbabwe its first win from two games in Pool B, but it looked a shadow of the side that impressed when losing to heavyweights South Africa by 62 runs in its tournament opener.
It was expected to bounce back with a morale-boosting win over the least experienced side in the tournament.
Instead the gritty amateurs from the Middle East pushed Zimbabwe all the way.
Sikandar Raza and Regis Chakabva made a cautious start to Zimbabwe's reply, getting through to 64 before UAE skipper and banker Mohammad Tauqir made the breakthrough with Raza's wicket for 46.
The next four wickets fell at regular intervals.
Zimbabwe's batting rock, Hamilton Masakadza went for one, hit on the back pad in front of middle stump and Chakabva, on 35, was out hit wicket when he slipped playing back to a Tauqir delivery and his foot slipped into the stumps.
Brendan Taylor made 47 and Solomon Mire contributed nine to have Zimbabwe 167 for five before Williams and Ervine combined to all but prevent a shock loss.
Following Ervine's removal with the score at 250, Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura partnered Williams through to the end.
As Zimbabwe celebrated the win, the UAE — a team that survives on a limited diet of international matches — revelled in their finest cricket performance. Their total of 285 pipped their previous highest ODI score of 282 set against Afghanistan last year and easily bettered its previous best against a Test nation of 204 against Bangladesh in 2008. Airline purser and vice captain Khurram Khan made 45 with the bat, steadying the UAE innings after going to the middle at 40 for two. One down Krishna Chandran hit 34.
The 35-year-old Shaiman Anwar bolstered the innings with his personal best of 67 coming from 50 balls in only his eighth international.
His partnership of 82 with Swapnil Patil (32) was a UAE record for the fifth wicket.
At the tail, Amjad Javed (25 not out) and Mohammad Naveed (23 not ) both posted their highest scores and their unbeaten eighth-wicket partnership of 53 was also a UAE record.
Tendai Chatara was the chief wicket-taker for Zimbabwe with three for 42. “I was disappointed about the fielding,” Chigumbura said. “But, other than that, I thought the guys played well with the bat. “The good thing about our team is that we have eight batters. Obviously we lost six wickets but we still had two batters sitting out there. There was no pressure but just to try and get over the line was the most important thing to do.”
“We played some good cricket but we were expecting a different result,” Tauqir said. “I think overall the bowlers bowled well but that one partnership saw (Zimbabwe) through the game. If one of them had got out I think it would have been a different result.”
“A lot of people would have thought Zimbabwe should have walked over UAE but that clearly wasn't the case,” man-of-the-match Williams said. “We didn't know what to expect from them and they put up a really good performance with the bat and our fielding wasn't that great.”
Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura targeted victory over the slumping West Indies after a four-wicket triumph against the United Arab Emirates breathed new life into their World Cup campaign.
“We need to take this momentum into the game against the West Indies,” said Chigumbura, whose side faces the men from the Caribbean in Canberra Monday. “Hopefully we can polish up our fielding and have a good game in all departments.” — Agencies
