Reduced to 139 for 7, Raza's unbeaten 69 lifted the hosts to 211, which they defended © ICC
Led by Sikander Raza's 69* and three-wicket hauls for Tendai Chisoro and Graeme Cremer, Zimbabwe registered a 107-run win over Ireland at the Harare Sports Club to move to the top of the Super Sixes points table of the ICC World Cup qualifiersand, in the process, gave their Net Run Rate a massive boost as well.
Chasing 212 on a difficult batting wicket, Ireland folded for 104. Ireland's chase went off track as early as the eighth over and could never recover from thereon. By then, Chisoro and Kyle Jarvis had sent back three of their top four batsmen - William Porterfield, Andrew Balbirnie and Ed Joyce - back to the pavilion, with only 18 runs on the board.
Paul Stirling, meanwhile, tried to hold the innings together from one end. Much of Ireland's chase was built around him but Zimbabwe kept striking at regular intervals.
The biggest partnership of Ireland's innings came after the fall of the O'Brien brothers - Niall and Kevin. With five wickets down, Gary Wilson and Stirling steadied the chase with a 32-run stand. More importantly, the duo had managed to play out nearly 12 overs without any damage. However, it was a miscommunication between the two which ended Stirling's stay in the middle. The southpaw pushed one of Cremer's deliveries to cover and set off for a single, only to be sent back by Wilson in a delayed decision. Raza, by then, had reacted to the ball and sent a flat throw to the 'keeper to end his 70-ball 41.
Once Stirling departed, the rest of the batting just fell apart, with Wilson following soon after. Cremer got into the act and ran through the tail as Ireland lost their last five wickets for only 18 runs. Barring Stirling and Wilson, none of the Irish batsmen could register double digit scores.
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