By: Drcricket7 Staff
Zimbabwe have started the ODI series, from where they left the T20I series against India, stunning New Zealand at the Harare Sports Club, courtesy an unbeaten century from Craig Ervine.
Craig Ervine was the star for Zimbabwe – he paced his innings to perfection and his execution was even better – as he steered the hosts to a seven-wicket win in the 1st ODI, with an over to spare.
This was the maiden ODI ton for Ervine and Zimbabwe’s first win while chasing anything above 300. The win was even more special, seeing it come against the World Cup finalist New Zealand.
“It feels very good, especially to be there at the end,” Craig Ervine said. “The pitch tended to misbehave a bit against India, but it was good today. I took it ball-by-ball and didn’t think too much about it.”
While Craig Ervine finished the game for Zimbabwe with his unbeaten century, it was the opening pair of Hamilton Masakadza and Chamu Chibhabha, who laid a solid foundation during the run-chase.
In a chase of 304, Zimbabwe got a solid opening stand of 74 runs, and after losing Chibhabha, Masakadza held the innings together with Ervine and put his team on course of a win.
“It has been a hard road for us, and it shows we are capable of winning games,” Zimbabwe skipper Elton Chigumbura said. “It was a good wicket and our opening partnership showed the way.”
Earlier, batting first, New Zealand posted a competitive 303 on the board, and it looked more than enough, as the matches played on a same deck against India were low-scoring.
However, it turned out to be a different story altogether as the New Zealand bowlers were hammered all over the park, with Craig Ervine led from the front.
“I thought 303 was enough,” Williamson said. “It wasn’t easy up front and I thought it was a good effort. They outplayed us in all areas though, full credit to them.”
“We weren’t at our best either,” he added, “It isn’t a train wreck and we weren’t far off, maybe struggled a bit with the ball.”
