FIRST ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL: WEST INDIES VERSUS ZIMBABWE
Day 1 at the National Cricket Stadium, Saint George’s Grenada, 22 February 2013
Result: West Indies (337/4) beat Zimbabwe (181/9) by 156 runs.
Hosts West Indies beat Zimbabwe by 156 runs, in the first One-Day International (ODI) match of the International Home Series 2013.
Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor won the toss and sent West Indies in to bat, in the first ever ODI between the two sides at the National Cricket Stadium in the Grenada capital, Saint George’s.
The West Indies top order built a firm foundation for the victory with the first wicket only falling on 168 in the 29th over, when Kieran Powell (79, 88 balls) was caught by Craig Ervine off the bowling of Christopher Mpofu.
Opener Johnson Charles put up a man of the match performance. He made 130 runs from 111 balls, 12 of which were fours and four sixes, before he was bowled by Mpofu. Number three Darren Bravo finished unbeaten on 100.
For Zimbabwe, Mpofu finished with two wickets for 83 runs in his 10 overs. Natsai M’shangwe got one for 56 in 10 overs, and Kyle Jarvis one for 65 also in 10, as the West Indies finished their allotted 50 overs with 337 runs for four wickets.
The Zimbabwe chase was hampered by a regular fall of wickets, with only Vusimuzi Sibanda (12) going into double figures among the top four. They had all perished after 10.5 overs, with only 34 runs on the board.
Number six Malcolm Waller was the top scorer with 51 runs off 75 balls, six of them fours, and it was his partnerships with number five Craig Ervine (41) and number eight Prosper Utseya that anchored the Zimbabwe innings – the latter pushing Zimbabwe past 150 runs.
Utseya then teamed up with M’shangwe (14) and showed the seriousness of intent that was sorely missing in the top order.
The former captain finished unbeaten on 18, but it was his 87 minutes of occupation that brutally exposed the shortcomings of the Zimbabwe top order on the day, and showed why the total of 181 for nine in 50 overs was more a reflection of what they did not do than what the West Indies bowlers did.
