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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
SOMEHOW fate conspired to ensure that one of the finest bowling shows for Zimbabwe cricketers would come on a special day for the finest bowler to ever come out of this country as the Chevrons took a massive leap towards a place at the ICC Cricket World Cup yesterday.

Their 107-run demolition of Ireland, a team which eliminated them from the last World Cup in Australia and New Zealand amid a mist of controversy in Hobart, was as comprehensive as it comes in this level of the game.

Amid scenes of bedlam at Harare Sports Club, filled with 7 500 partisan home fans rooting for their heroes in an adventure that has captured the imagination of the entire nation, the Chevrons responded with a fine bowling show, one of the finest in this format of the game, to post a massive victory yesterday.

With concerns that their 211 /9, anchored around man-of-the-match Sikandar Raza’s unbeaten 69, in which the all-rounder shepherded the tail with aplomb after the Chevrons had slipped into a spot of bother at 139 /7 in the 34th over, could have been inadequate, the Chevrons responded with the ball to skittle their opponents for 104.

The slow bowlers were always going to be influential on yesterday’s track and skipper Graeme Cremer led from the front with his 3 /18, including taking the winning wicket, Tendai Chisoro also took three wickets for 22 runs while there were wickets for Raza and Sean Williams too.

Seamer Kyle Jarvis also grabbed a wicket.

Zimbabwe’s fine bowling show, which powered them to a victory that propelled them to the top of the table, could not have come on a special day for the Chevrons.

For yesterday was the 44th birthday anniversary of their coach Heath Streak, the finest bowler to come out of Zimbabwe and this appeared to provide inspiration for the bowling unit to turn on a show that ripped life out of the Irish batsmen and script a big win for the Chevrons.

Streak, the former skipper of the team, is the best bowler to have featured for the Chevrons during a stellar career in which he touched the heavens, both in the ODI and Test formats, and was at one stage ranked one of the best five bowlers in the world.

He is the only Zimbabwean bowler to have taken 100 Test wickets and one of just four local bowlers to take more than 100 ODI wickets.

The others are Ray Price, Prosper Utseya and Grant Flower.

Yesterday’s victory also came on the 25th anniversary of Streak’s Test debut during Zimbabwe’s tour of Pakistan where he made the world take notice of the new kid on the bloc with his eight wickets in the second Test in Rawalpindi in December 1993.

He took 22 wickets in that series, at an average of 13.54, to take the man-of-the-series award.

Streak also took 6 /90 against Pakistan in Bulawayo in 1995, 5 /93 against Australia in Harare the same year, 5 /27 against the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago, 6/ 87 against England at Lord’s in London in 2000 and 6 /73 against India at Harare Sports Club in 2005.

He also has a five-wicket haul with 5/ 32 against India at Queens in an ODI match in Bulawayo in 1997.

In a stellar career in which he won eight man-of-the-match awards and even scored an unbeaten 127 against the Windies at Harare Sports Club in November 2003, Streak has been a great servant of his nation.

And, on the occasion of his 44th birthday yesterday, his brilliance with the ball during his playing days appeared to provide inspiration for his players who turned on a show that demolished the Irish.

“Very happy, we knew we had a score to defend, but the bowling and fielding were outstanding today. We could not have asked for anything better,’’ skipper Cremer said.

“Physiologically, getting over 200 we knew it was going to be hard for them to chase, especially if we bowled well. Chisoro opening up as spinner is never easy, but for him to get three and for the rest of the bowlers to step up was amazing.

“It was a match-winning knock from Sikander Raza, he’s done it time and time again for us. The way he stuck it out and batted out for us until the end was excellent and credit to him, definitely my man-of-the-match.”

Ireland captain William Porterfield didn’t know what hit them.

“It has been a game of two halves really, if you give us 212 to chase on that pitch you would be pretty happy,’’ he said.

“We were confident at half-time, but then never really got going.

“It’s hard to put your finger on for now, what happened there, it’s pretty disappointing to get bowled out on that pitch. I think we gifted them early on and put us on the back foot, Stirlo (Paul Stirling) played pretty well, but then he just lost his partners at the other end, and I obviously started that off.

“We have to pick ourselves up and get a result on Sunday now.” 

Fixtures for Today and Tomorrow

Today: The Netherlands v Nepal (7th/ 8th play-off), Kwekwe Sports Club; Chris Brown and Adrian Holdstock (on-field), Ikown Chabi (reserve umpire), Shahit Wadvalla (match referee)

Today: PNG v Hong Kong (9th/ 10th play-off), Old Hararians; Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid and Langton Rusere (on-field), Joel Wilson (reserve umpire), David Jukes (match referee)

Tomorrow: Ireland v Scotland (S6), Harare Sports Club; Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson (on-field), Gregory Brathwaite (third umpire), Ahsan Raza (fourth umpire), Devdas Govindjee (match referee)