Tatenda Taibu man of the match of Zimbabwe vs Canada

Zimbabwe's spinners made sure a record third-wicket partnership between Tatenda Taibu and Craig Ervine didn't go to waste, maintaining an asphyxiating grip on Canada's batsmen to secure a 175-run win in Nagpur. Taibu and Ervine's stand, which is Zimbabwe's highest for the third wicket in ODIs and their fifth largest overall, helped their team recover from a decidedly shaky start to reach 298 for 8 on a good batting wicket. While the ascendancy had swung between the two teams in the first innings Zimbabwe's slow bowlers assumed full control in the afternoon, sharing 37.1 overs and all ten wickets as Canada were bowled out in the 43rd over.

Despite needing practically a-run-a-ball from the start Canada would still have begun their batting effort with the belief that an upset was not impossible. What was needed was a positive start by their opening pair, the unlikely couple of veteran batsman John Davison and the comparatively foetal Nitish Kumar who, at 40 and 16 respectively, are the oldest and youngest players at this tournament.

Davison looked to attack Ray Price - who shared the new ball once again - almost immediately but ran straight past a flighted delivery that straightened just enough to clip the top of off stump. Things got worse for Canada four overs later when, in consecutive deliveries, Price stuck out his left hand and held onto a chipped drive to get rid of Kumar and Ashish Bagai swept straight to short backward square. Jimmy Hansra safely negotiated the hat-trick ball but the damage had been done with Canada staring into the precipice at 7 for 3. 

Hansra and 19-year-old Ruvindu Gunasekara clung gamely to the crease for a while, but the required rate rose steadily as the slow bowlers strengthened their stranglehold. As the frustration rose Hansra again used his feet to Utseya but this time an arm ball rushed past the outside edge and he was easily stumped for a 41-ball 20.

Gunasekara followed in the very next over, bottom-edging an attempted late cut onto his own stumps, and when the big-hitting Rizwan Cheema mis-hit a full toss straight to short fine leg Canada were 66 for 6 and the match was over as a contest. With the pitch exhibiting increasingly extravagant turn legspinner Graeme Cremer was unleashed on the lower order, and both Tyson Gordon and Khurram Chohan were flummoxed by his subtle variations in flight and spin.

Zubin Surkari briefly held Zimbabwe at bay, gritting out a brave 26 before he fell to a leg-side stumping. Cremer wrapped up the innings an over later, ripping one through Balaji Rao's defences to claim his third wicket. 

Canada had been able to put up much more of a challenge with the ball, legspinner Rao picking up career-best figures of 4 for 57 as Zimbabwe were kept under pressure on either side of Taibu and Ervine's partnership. There was a real buzz in the field when Brendan Taylor and Charles Coventry were removed within the first four overs - Taylor pinned in front of his stumps by a Khurram Chohan inswinger on the very first ball of the day - but as the shine faded and the sun baked all life from the wicket the batsmen settled in and a large total loomed.

After seeing off the new ball Taibu took two boundaries from offspinner Jimmy Hansra's first over, another brace from his second, to calm Zimbabwe's nerves. He barely dipped below a-run-a-ball thereafter, bringing up a 46-ball fifty in the 15th over and playing with increasing fluency. Ervine, who made a cautious start to his innings with 17 from his first 35 balls, eventually began to pick up the tempo too and used a variety of sweep shots against the spinners to good effect as the partnership passed 100.

It appeared Zimbabwe had assumed full control once more, but as the ball softened it began to grip the surface and Rao got the breakthrough with one that bounced a little more than Ervine was expecting, ricocheting off the shoulder of the bat and the pad and looping up for wicketkeeper Bagai to complete a good catch. Ervine had reached 85, his highest score in ODIs, but his dismissal sparked another collapse and when Taibu top-edged a sweep to be out for 98 Zimbabwe were 201 for 5.

Rao had luck on his side in nipping Greg Lamb and Sean Williams out, Lamb chopping a long-hop onto his own stumps and Williams gloving a sweep to give Bagai the chance to take a third smart catch, diving forward. Zimbabwe were precariously placed at 240 for 7 at that point and were thankful for an enterprising 41-run stand between Prosper Utseya and Graeme Cremer, which gave the score took a sheen of respectability after a stuttering start and a middle-order wobble. As it turned out, their score was more than enough against a Canadian line-up that showed precious little competency in combating an unrelenting hydra of spin. 

 

 

 

 

Taibu helps Zimbabwe win by

Taibu helps Zimbabwe win by


 




NAGPUR, India - Zimbabwe's Tatenda Taibu hit 98 Monday to help his side overcame the early loss of both openers and reach 298-9 against Canada at the World Cup.
With both sides needing victory in the Group A match to have any chance of progressing to the quarterfinals, Zimbabwe slumped to 7-2 after winning the toss and choosing to bat at Nagpur's VCA Stadium.
Brendan Taylor fell lbw first ball to Khurram Chohan and Charles Coventry went the same way to Harvir Baidwan before Taibu hit nine fours in a 99-ball innings to add 181 for the third wicket with Craig Ervine (85).
But Indian-born legspinner Balaji Rao took 4-57 as Zimbabwe slipped from 188-2 to 240-7 to give Canada the faintest hope of a second win in 15 World Cup matches.
Canada's World Cup best total is the 249 it racked up against New Zealand four years ago, when it lost by 114 runs. With the ICC Associate side never having scored more than 265 in a one-day international against a test nation, the odds strongly favor Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura said before the match he wanted to win the toss and bat first on what has been a good wicket in the two previous matches played on it. He got his wish but Zimbabwe's innings started disastrously.
Taylor, who scored 37 when Zimbabwe cruised to a 143-run win in the teams' only previous one-day international five years ago, was hit on the pad by an inswinger from Chohan that was hitting middle.
And Charles Coventry was back in the dressing room halfway through the fourth over, swinging across a delivery by Baidwan.
Zimbabwe hit back but Rao broke the partnership with a ball that spun back from outside off and took an inside edge before spooning up off Ervine's pads. Ashish Bagai, another of the wicketkeeper-captains at the World Cup, ran from behind the stumps in front of the batsman to take the catch.
Bagai did the same in the following over, diving to get rid of Chigumbura in exactly the same fashion - this time off a delivery by Rao's fellow spinner, Rizwan Cheema.
Taibu had progressed serenely with Ervine alongside him, rotating the strike and selecting his shots well, but with the pressure back on and partners changing he slipped up and hit Rao straight to John Davison just inside the deep midwicket boundary.

  


 

Zim won by 175 runs Man of the match Taibu

Zim won by 175 runs Man of the match Taibu

 

Today’s day game featured the battle between Zimbabwe and Canada from the Group A. And Zimbabwe have defeated Canada comprehensively by a whopping margin of 175 runs.

 




Tatenda Taibu and Craig Ervine outshone other batsmen as they did the bulk of the scoring. Batting first, Zimbabwe made 298/9 in 50 overs with Taibu hitting 98 (off 99 balls) and Ervine scoring a quick 85 (off 81 deliveries). Unfortunately, both batsmen failed to cross the 3-figure mark.
Canada bowled decently giving away only 4 extras and also striking early blows. However, the 181-run partnership between Taibu and Ervine took the match away from the Canadians. Sean Williams (30), Prosper Utseya (22) and Graeme Cremer (26) provided some handy contributions lower down the order. Amongst the Canadian bowlers, Balaji Rao was the pick of the lot grabbing 4 wickets for the team.
Chasing Zimbabwean score of 298, Canada got bowled out for a paltry score of 123. Zubin Surkari who made 26 was the highest scorer of the side. Zimbabwean bowlers bowled as a unit with Ray Price and Graeme Cremer picking up 3 wickets each. Prosper Utseya and Greg Lamb claimed 2 wickets each.
Final Result: Zimbabwe defeated Canada by 175 runs