West Indies beat Zimbabwe, two-time world champions’ World Cup hopes alive
West Indies had to win against Zimbabwe to survive in the T20 World Cup race. Nicolas Puranara eventually won the qualifying match despite being under pressure at the start. The win kept West Indies’ hopes of reaching the main stage of the World Cup alive. Alzari Joseph played a big role in West Indies’ victory. He took 4 wickets.
The two West Indies openers made a good start by coming down to bat against Zimbabwe. But in the fourth over, Kyle Myers got out against the pace of the game. Evin Lewis, Nicholas Puranra no runs. But Johnson Charles survived on one side. Rovman Powell paired with him.
It seemed that West Indies will make big runs in this pair. But due to a misunderstanding, Charles got out after scoring 45 runs. After that one wicket after another fell. At one time I think, it will be difficult for West Indies to score 130 runs. But in the end, Powell and Akil Hossain pulled the team’s run. Big runs came in the last few overs. In the end West Indies scored 153 runs after losing 7 wickets in 20 overs.
In response, Zimbabwe started to bat. 21 runs in the first over. But in the third over of the match, Regis Chakava was dismissed by Joseph against the pace of the game. Zimbabwe’s top and middle order did not get runs. Wickets keep falling at certain intervals. Odin Smith gave Zimbabwe the biggest blow by dismissing Sikandar Raja for 14 runs.
In the end, Luke Zhongwei made some effort. But he could not win the team. He returned to Sajghar after 29 runs off that Joseph. With that, Zimbabwe’s hopes of victory ended. They were all out for 122 runs. West Indies won the match by 31 runs.
With this win, all four teams in Group B have 2 points. Each has one match remaining. West Indies last match against Ireland. Purana will reach the main stage of the World Cup only if they win that match.
