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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
THERE was heartbreak on a grand scale at Harare Sports Club yesterday as Zimbabwe’s quest for a place at next year’s World Cup ended in an anti-climax following a shock three-run defeat to United Arab Emirates.

Zimbabwe’s World Cup dream appeared promising as they needed to win yesterday against one of the underdogs of world cricket when they were given a revised target of 230 from 40 overs in this rain-interrupted match.

But thousands of supporters went back home crestfallen after their favourite team choked.

And for the first time since 1983, Zimbabwe will not be part of the World Cup finals which will be hosted by England and Wales next year.

Their defeat opened the door for either Ireland or Afghanistan who clash their last Super Six match today.

Zimbabwe just needed to win yesterday to join West Indies on the road to England no matter what was going to happen between Ireland and Afghanistan today.

However, the Chevrons will have no-one but themselves to blame after they won the toss and somehow took the strange decision to bowl first.

Despite taking the match to the wire, Zimbabwe still fell short, much to the disappointment of an estimated 15 000 crowd, which had kept swelling and forced authorities to shut the gates for security reasons late in the afternoon.

The supporters spurred them on but the match was always slipping from the Chevrons’ hands despite Sean Williams’ gallant 80-run knock which gave them a fighting chance.

Zimbabwe needed 19 runs from the last two overs and then six from the final ball but Craig Ervine (22) managed only two as UAE rallied back to snatch an historic first ODI win over a Test nation.

Chevrons skipper Graeme Cremer was disappointed after the match.

“The ball was in our court today. We needed to turn up and play some of our best cricket, it might have been a different story. The guys are shattered in the change room and I am sure most Zimbabweans are.

“The fans have been excellent from Bulawayo to here and another great turnout today.

‘’Probably they will be more disappointed than anyone because they had turned out and expected us to win at least one of the two games to qualify.

“So there was big expectation on us and we are really sad we couldn’t get them what they wanted. For turning out like that they must be very disappointed,” said Cremer.

As was expected rains interfered with the match yesterday when an afternoon downpour forced the players to an early lunch after UAE had put on 235/7 in 47.5 overs.

Zimbabwe were desperate that the match go ahead with the hope of winning and sealing their World Cup berth.

Calculators were brought out and Zimbabwe were given a revised target.

With the rains gone and the skies clearing up, Zimbabwe’s chase got off to the worst possible start after losing their openers Solomon Mire (6) and Hamilton Masakadza (7) for single digit scores.

Masakadza was elevated to the top to open the innings with Mire after Cephas Zhuwao and Tendai Chisoro were dropped and replaced by PJ Moor and Tendai Chatara.

However, the chase got off to the worst start possible as Mire departed early after he mistimed a Mohammad Naveed delivery and skied his effort for an easy catch at midwicket. Before Zimbabwe could re-organise themselves Naveed struck again when he uprooted Hamilton Masakadza’s off stump.

Zimbabwe pinned their hopes on Brendan Taylor but the former skipper was bowled for 15 by spinner Ahmed Raza as the home team slipped further to 45/3.

Williams, with an array of sweep shots, gave Zimbabwe some glimmer of hope in a 79-run fourth-wicket stand with newboy PJ Moor (39).

Williams arrived at his 27th ODI half ton from 56 deliveries.

But his partnership with Moor was broken when Moor went for a soft dismissal at cover from the bowling of Qadeer Ahmed.

Although Zimbabwe still looked in it on 124/4 with about 13 overs to face, they needed to deal with the pressure of the spiralling required run rate.

Williams and Raza (34) managed to keep the scoreboard ticking as they had to do with some spirited running between the wickets. But there were some signs of trouble for Zimbabwe when Williams started limping with just over 50 runs needed in the last seven overs.

As Zimbabwe went in search of runs, Raza’s cameo of 34 from 26 balls was brought to an end by Mustafa although there was still belief among the die-hard supporters who continued to chant for the team with Ervine the last recognised batsman coming in.

Probably the biggest blow for Zimbabwe afterwards was when Williams was taken as he attempted to sweep Mustafa to the boundary in consecutive deliveries using the same shot.

Zimbabwe needed 24 from 18 but skipper Cremer was back in the pavilion the first ball he faced with an inside edge that he redirected to his stumps as the tail waded into the batting.

The match was still on knife edge as Zimbabwe needed 15 off the last over but they could only manage 11.

“We lost wickets in crucial periods. Taking nothing away from UAE, they bowled and fielded excellently. Credit to our team for holding our nerve in a few games through the tournament. We’ll pick ourselves up soon, but right now it doesn’t feel too good,” said Cremer.

Earlier in the day, Zimbabwe had hoped to make short work of the UAE with the ball and included an extra bowler in their line up when they brought in Chatara. Chatara took the first wicket Ashfaq Ahmed (10) caught behind by Taylor but the Associates staged a resistance with an 80-run partnership for the second wicket.

Just like in the last game against West Indies, there was something wrong about Zimbabwe’s fielding as they leaked too many runs.“Great achievement for the UAE team because they have never won against a Test nation. So it’s a great achievement for the guys which shows the world that the UAE and all the Associate nations are doing better,” said Mustafa.