HOBART, Australia — A fiery four-wicket
spell from pace bowler
Alzarri Joseph helped the two-time champion West Indies
storm past Zimbabwe by 31 runs to keep their Twenty20 World Cup dreams alive on
Wednesday, while Ireland upset Scotland.
اضافة اعلان
After being shocked by Scotland in their opening
match on Monday, West Indies had no margin for error if they wanted to stay in
the hunt for a place in the Super 12 stage.
And they
accomplished the feat at Bellerive Oval in Hobart with 10 balls to spare,
dismissing Zimbabwe for 122 after setting them 154 to win.
The dangerous Joseph was instrumental, taking 4–16
while Jason Holder chipped in with 3–12 to rescue them following another
batting collapse after they won the toss and chose to bat.
“We are learning together and that’s what’s
important,” said West Indies skipper
Nicholas Pooran. “Jason put his hand up as
our most experienced bowler here, so it’s nice to see him performing the way he
is. Alzarri Joseph, it’s not just now but since the beginning of the year he’s
been our best bowler in T20 cricket.”
The victory means they meet Ireland on Friday, with
the winner going through to the next round when the big guns join the
tournament, while Zimbabwe face Scotland in a winner-takes-all tie.
Ireland stayed in contention with a stunning
six-wicket upset of the Scots with George Dockrell and Curtis Campher starring
in a 119-run partnership after they looked out for the count.
Zimbabwe were without captain Craig Ervine, who
suffered a “mild asthmatic attack” before the game, and West Indies were
aggressive early on.
But they paid the price with Kyle Mayers (13) top
edging Blessing Muzarabani to wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva, who was deputizing
as skipper.
Johnson Charles unleashed in the ninth over, hitting
6–4–4 off Ryan Burl to get the scoreboard moving before Evin Lewis (15) was out
and Pooran (7) fell soon after.
When Charles was comically run out for 45 in a
mix-up with Rovman Powell, they were reeling.
Zimbabwe kept the pressure on and Sikander Raza
trapped Shamarah Brooks lbw, then caught and bowled Holder with West Indies
losing four wickets for 11 runs in 12 balls to leave them on 101–6.
Powell (28) and Akeal Hosein (23 not out) threw the
bat in a late flourish to ensure they set a competitive target.
Great cricket
In reply, Zimbabwe slammed
18 in a nightmare first over from Mayers.
Undeterred, the Caribbean side made a breakthrough
in the third over when
Regis Chakabva dragged the ball onto his stumps off
Joseph.
Joseph took his second with a lightning delivery to
remove Tony Munyonga, and Sean Williams fell two balls later as the pressure
began building.
Allrounder Raza slammed 82 off 48 balls in
Zimbabwe’s first match on Monday, but he was out for 14 and when Joseph came
back in the attack he shattered the stumps of Richard Ngarava and Luke Jongwe
to end any hope they had.
In the earlier game, Scotland powered to 176–5 — the
tournament’s highest score so far on the back of 86 from Michael Jones — for
what looked like a winning total.
When they reduced the Irish to 65–4 after 10 overs,
it looked all over.
But Campher (69 off 32 balls) and Dockrell (39 off
27) came to the crease and unleashed some fireworks to steer them home against
the odds with an over to spare.
“Pretty special, I can’t remember a more important
partnership,” said Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie after their highest-ever
successful run chase at a World Cup. “We have played some great cricket
throughout the year, only to fall away towards the end, but credit to the guys
for the partnership.”
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