Chevrons off to a perfect start

…Ervine, Williams hit tons as Zim make perfect start to WC Qualifier

By Emmanuel Marambe

SPORTS WRITER

SKIPPER Craig Ervine and Sean Williams struck unbeaten centuries as Zimbabwe made a perfect start to the ongoing ICC World Cup Qualifier with an eight-wicket victory over Nepal at Harare Sports Club yesterday.

Chasing 291 to win, Ervine (121 off 128 balls) and Williams (102 off 70 balls), who came on at number two and four respectively, joined forces with the Chevrons score at 127 and added 164 runs as the hosts cantered to a comfortable victory.

Player of the match and Chevrons skipper Ervine was delighted with the winning start to the tournament.

“I am pretty ecstatic with the win. We knew that it was a decent wicket to bat on and it was just a case of us giving ourselves a chance, building a partnership and trying to bat deep.

“I thought we were staring down the barrel of maybe 340 plus our bowlers bowled really well towards the back-end of the innings and 290 was probably a below par total for us to chase on this wicket,” said Ervine, who admitted they were a bit concerned by Nepal’s 171-run opening partnership.

“At that stage we were trying to change the bowlers to try and break that partnership and get us back in the game.  We also didn’t start well, dropping a couple of catches that also put us on the back foot. But I give credit to the guys for pulling it back,” said Ervine.

After winning the toss and electing to field, Zimbabwe found the going tough early on against Nepal’s openers Kushal Bhurtel (99 off 95 balls) and Aasif Sheikh, who put on 171 runs for the first wicket before the former was bowled by Wellington Masakadza just one run short of a century.

And once Sheikh (66 off 100) followed suit off the pitch after falling victim to another Masakadza delivery, Nepal started losing wickets at regular intervals.

The visitors did try to attack the Chevrons bowling with Kushal Malla scoring 41 off 42 balls before he was caught by Ervine off Tendai Chatara’s bowling while Rohit Paudel added 31 off 29 balls before he became Richard Ngarava’s first victim at the start of the 44th over.

Aarif Sheikh (10 off 11 balls) and Gulsan Jha (13 off 13 balls) were the other Nepalese batsmen to get onto double figures as the Asian side set Zimbabwe 291 to win.

In reply, the Chevrons started off well with ODI debutant Joylord Gumbie and veteran Ervine scoring runs with regularity.

However, Gumbie was to be dismissed after making 25 off 29 balls when he was trapped leg before wicket by Sompal Kami off the last delivery of the eighth over.

On came Wessly Madhevere who also showed promise alongside the captain as they added 82 runs for the second wicket.

Madhevere was then out for 32 off 38 balls when he was caught by Dipendra Singh Airee off Gulsan Jha’s bowling, paving way for Williams to step onto the crease with the hosts needing 164 runs to win.

 And there was to be no further loss of wickets for the Dave Houghton-coached side as first Ervine reached his century off 111 balls in the 38th over, before Williams joined him in the centurions’ circle after finally getting his ton at the end of the 44th over, leaving the Chevrons needing just a run off the last six overs.

They duly got the run required off the first delivery of the 45th over as the Chevrons secured a comfortable victory against the minnows.

Nepal skipper Paudel admitted his were undone by Zimbabwe’s batsmen.

“I thought we didn’t bowl to our expectations especially in the middle overs and we could have really done better. But Zimbabwe also batted well, especially Craig (Ervine) and Sean (Williams) – they really set the tone for the team,” said Paudel.

The Chevrons are in action tomorrow against Netherlands, while Nepal take on the USA.