Match Details
Earlier in the day, after being invited to bat first, Craig Ervine and Joylord Gumbie shepherded the innings for the Chevrons but they were irked by some early sideways movement and steep bounce. Jason Holder was consistent with his outswingers while Alzarri Joseph decided to stick with nip-backers to the left-handed Ervine. Gumbie broke the shackles in the 6th over by swatting his first maximum in International cricket. Ervine also batted with calculated aggression and steered Zimbabwe to 37/0 at the end of the first powerplay. The Windies had an opportunity to cease the opening partnership in the 15th over but vice-captain Rovman Powell dropped the Zimbabwean skipper on 25.
The right-left duo of Gumbie and Ervine continued to bat sedately and added 63 runs for the opening wicket before Keemo Paul brought the resurgence to the side by trapping Gumbie 26(50) in front with a perfect inswinger. Akeal Hosein joined the wickets tally soon as Wessly Madhevere 2(8) departed in an attempt to change gears. Roston Chase was brought into the attack in the 22nd over and the off-spinner had an immediate impact as Ervine 47(58) threw his wicket while attempting a needless reverse sweep.
With wickets tumbling at the other end, Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza paired up to accelerate the innings but the former holed out in the process and had to walk back for 23(26). Zimbabwe were reduced to 112/4 following the departure of Williams however Ryan Burl got together with Raza and stitched a crucial 87-run partnership for the 5th wicket to elude a collapse. The Windies bowlers once again failed to clinch in the middle overs and allowed a partnership to prosper. The southpaw Burl 50(57) got to his 5th ODI half-century before Akeal Hosein had the better of him. West Indies were again untidy in the field as Raza was dropped on a couple of occasions and the right-hander maximized on that by aggregating a quick 68(58). Keemo Paul was the pick of the bowlers for the Windies and finished his stint with the figures of 3/61. Stick around for the post-match presentation!