After the Dutch loss, Zimbabwe nearly eliminated
Zimbabwe’s hopes of advancing to the T20 World Cup semifinals were crushed as their Group 2 match against the Netherlands on Wednesday in Adelaide ended in a loss by five wickets. Craig Ervine’s team had high hopes for their group after surprising the previous winners, Pakistan.
They ended up placing fourth, behind South Africa, India, and Bangladesh. When batting at Adelaide Oval, Ervine’s gamble paid off poorly as they were bowled out for 117 runs in 19.2 overs. Sikander Raza (40 runs, 3 sixes) and Sean Williams (28 runs) were the only two batters to reach double digits (28).
The Dutch seamers established the tempo through the innings, and Paul van Meekeren capitalized by taking three. Max O’Dowd, the team’s leading scorer, paced the Dutch comeback with 52 points. The Dutch, previously eliminated from the tournament, won their first Super 12 game by a comfortable margin of two overs thanks to Tom Cooper’s 32-run contribution.
