West Indies secured a 31-run win over Zimbabwe on Wednesday to jump to the third spot in the points table of the closely-contested Group B and keep their hopes alive in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
In a nutshell
West Indies posted 153 for 7 after electing to bat, led by Johnson Charles's 36-ball 45 and backed up by handy contributions by Rovman Powell (21-ball 28) and Akeal Hosein (18-ball 23). However, Zimbabwe were never in the chase, losing three wickets in the powerplay and failing to stitch any partnerships of note from thereon. They were eventually bundled out for 122.
Did West Indies dominate right from the start?
Not really. Even though Kyle Mayers and Charles helped the side to a quick start courtesy a 28-run opening partnership off 21 balls, neither batters had found fluency in their innings. Charles, however, soon got into his groove following the dismissal of his opening partner. Taking advantage of a dropped catch, he tore into Ryan Burl in the ninth over, hitting him for a six and two boundaries off successive deliveries.
Did Zimbabwe ever seize control?
For a brief period, during the middle overs when Sikandar Raza scalped three wickets. Soon after he had dismissed Lewis on 15, Nicholas Pooran offered an easy return catch to Sean Williams and Charles was run out. Raza added to their woes by trapping Shamarh Brooks LBW and inducing a return catch off Jason Holder, triggering West Indies' collapse from 77 for 1 to 101 for 6 in a space of 25 balls.
Hosein and Powell's late assault, however, took the momentum back in West Indies' favour.
Could Zimbabwe provide a fightback from there on?
Not really. Alzarri Joseph's early spell had rocked the stumps of Regis Chakabva and Tony Munyonga. Obed McCoy left them reeling further by dismissing the experienced Williams, who went for a drive and got an outside edge to the 'keeper.
Madhevere, who had looked steady amidst the ruins in the powerplay, and offered a brief promise to revive Zimbabwe's chase in the company of Raza, was also sent back in the seventh over, while attempting to go after a short and wide delivery only to be undone by Lewis's terrific catch at backward point.
There was no way back for the Zimbabwe batters as West Indian bowlers kept chipping away with wickets, not allowing a single partnership to flourish. Joseph returned for his second spell towards the end of the innings and bagged a couple of more wickets - cleaning up Luke Jongwe and Richard Ngarava to end with figures of 4 for 16, while Holder picked three to bundle out Zimbabwe in 18.2 overs.
Where do the teams stand and where do they go from here?
Much like the other teams in Group B - Scotland and Ireland - Zimbabwe and West Indies have registered one win and one loss in two games. It's only the Net Run Rate that separates them. However, with only one more game to go, the NRR will have no impact on their fortunes. West Indies will face Ireland and Zimbabwe will play Scotland at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart, on Friday (October 21), in what will be must-win games for all four teams.
Brief Scores: West Indies 153/7 in 20 overs (Johnson Charles 45, Rovman Powell 28; Sikandar Raza 3-19, Blessing Muzarabani 2-38) beat Zimbabwe 122 in 18.2 overs (Luke Jongwe 29, Wesley Madhevere 27; Alzarri joseph 4-16, Jason Holder 3-12) by 31 runs
Source: Cricbuzz