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Eddie Chikamhi

Senior Sports Reporter

THE Zimbabwe women’s cricket team suffered their first defeat at the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier last night after losing their way in the final over of a rollercoaster encounter against hosts United Arab Emirates at the Tolerance Oval in Abu Dhabi. 

The Lady Chevrons suffered a shock four-wicket loss but they still finished top of Group B, thanks to the comprehensive victories in the opening two round-robin matches against Papua New Guinea and Thailand. 

They are set to renew their rivalries with Ireland in the semi-finals, after the Europeans finished second in Group A, which was won by tournament favourites Bangladesh.

Thailand landed the other semi-final ticket from Group B following a 12 runs victory over Papua New Guinea yesterday.

This means, the Lady Chevrons are now one game away from qualifying for their first ever World Cup, and they have to beat Ireland to achieve the milestone. 

The Lady Chevrons yesterday struggled to put runs on the board after winning the toss and choosing to bat. In the end, they settled for 120/7 in their allotted overs before the hosts rallied back to claim an unlikely victory, with the needed 14 runs coming in the last over. 

Zimbabwe captain Mary-Anne Musonda conceded her side did not perform to the best of their abilities yesterday. 

“It was quite tight, I thought UAE played well. They played some good cricket and well done to them,” she said after the game.

“I think the wicket was quite slow so we couldn’t find a lot of boundaries. It’s something that we need to work on. Also, we need to improve in the power play overs. We didn’t do what we usually do. But I thought we tried,” said Musonda. 

The usually dependable opening partnership of Sharne Mayers and Kelis Ndhlovu yesterday could not stay long on the crease, with the former departing a run-a-ball 23. 

The partnership yielded 34 runs. 

Wickets then continued to fall at regular intervals with Ndhlovu (8), Chipo Muger-Titipano (16), Musonda (15), Pellagia Mujaji (13), Modester Mupachikwa (22) and Precious Marange (4) all failing to last the distance. 

UAE’s 15-year-old bowler Vaishnave Mahesh was in top form after claiming three wickets for 15 runs before returning to haunt the Zimbabweans with the bat late on. 

Mahesh got the winning runs from the boundary to complete a sensational win for the hosts, who had lost their opening two games in the tournament. 

Zimbabwe had appeared to contain their opponents after thwarting their progress at every turn in the run chase. In the end, UAE needed 14 runs off the final over which was taken by one of Zimbabwe’s best bowlers, Nomvelo Sibanda. 

It kicked off badly when they conceded two leg byes. Zimbabwe then suffered a huge setback with a misthrow from a ball that was adjudged wide and resulting in four more runs. 

Then four runs were needed off the final ball and Mahesh held her nerve to take the UAE total to 121/6 in their 20 overs. Kavisha Edogade was voted Player of the Match for her unbeaten knock of 41 runs and an impressive catch that led to the dismissal of Zimbabwe skipper, Musonda.

UAE skipper Chaya Mughal was thrilled by the win.

“We beat the strongest team in our pool. We got the result that we wanted,” she said.

“From the first ball we had said that this was going to be a difficult game but when you tell yourself that you want something, I am sure you can get it.

“As captain, I am immensely happy. I can’t describe it because beating a strong team gives you confidence. Today was the day when we had nothing to lose. So we just had to give 100 percent. We did that and the result came in our favour.” 

UAE still finished bottom of the group, with two points. PNG also had two points and were in third position. Zimbabwe and Thailand had four points apiece but the Lady Chevrons managed to avoid meeting Group A winners Bangladesh in the semi-finals after they retained pole position because of superior run rate. The winners of the semi-finals will proceed to next year’s Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa.

Scorecard:

Zimbabwe lose by 4 wickets

Zimbabwe 120-7 in 20 overs (Sharne Mayers 23*, Modester Mupachikwa 22*, Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano 16*, Mahesh 3-15, Sharma 2-31)

UAE 121-6 in 20 overs (Kumari Egodage 41*, Esha Oza 36; Loreen Tshuma 2-18 : Kelis Ndhlovu 2-20)