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Paul Munyuki Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE lost their way after a poor middle order show to crash to another painful 38-run defeat in the third and final ODI against New Zealand at Harare Sports Club yesterday.
Winning the toss, Zimbabwe put in the tourists to bat, restricting them to 273/6 in their allotted 50 overs.

The Zimbabwe attack, led by Graeme Creamer, did a wonderful job as the spinner bagged three wickets to finish with figures of 3-44 in his 10-over spell.

John Nyumbu finished with figures of 2-52 in his 10-over spell.

However, after the openers, Hamilton Masakadza and Chamu Chibhaha, had weathered a storm to set a good foundation, with the hosts reaching 97/1 in the 23rd over, Zimbabwe collapsed and could not contain the pressure.

Masakadza posted his 29th ODI half century but, when well set to take his team home, he perished and, from there, everything skidded off the rails.

A  45-run fourth wicket partnership between Sean Williams (63) and Craig Ervine – who was run out after posting 32 runs – seemed to breathe life into Zimbabwe’s chase.

But, in the end, they could not get over the line.

“New Zealand played well, especially upfront but out batting let us down, it was a reasonable target,” said skipper Elton Chigumbura, who also failed with the bat.

“we laid the foundation and some players managed to get runs but it’s something to learn from. Pakistan are coming in six weeks so we need to make sure we pull things up.”

Black Caps skipper Williamson, with his 90, was named man-of-the-match and man-of-the-series.

“The wicket was tough and they bowled very well but the way the boys stuck it in,” he said.

“We knew that if we could get one we could put them under pressure. It was a fantastic and well-fought series.

“Tough series and adapt to conditions, most pleasing thing for me was learning from each game. We’ve got a strong squad and we came here looking to be as competitive as we could be in the busy schedule.

“These are stepping stones for us, there’s still the T20 left so we are looking forward to that.”

Scorecard
Toss Zimbabwe
New Zealand Innings
Guptill                                           c Masakadza b Cremer           42
Latham                                          c Cremer b Nyumbu                16
Williamson*                                c Ervine b Nyumbu                   90
Munro                                           b Cremer                                      9
Elliott                                             c Chigumbura b Cremer         36
Neesham                                     not out                                          37
Ronchi†                                        c Madziva b Williams               7
McCullum                                    not out                                          25
Extras                                            (1b, 8w, 2nb)                              11
Total                                                                                                       273

Did not bat: McClenaghan, Wheeler, Sodhi
F-o-W: 1-44 (Latham, 9.6 ov), 2-100 (Guptill, 20.5 ov), 3-128 (Munro, 26.3 ov), 4-198 (Elliott, 39.4 ov), 5-202 (Williamson, 40.2 ov), 6-223 (Ronchi, 45.5 ov)

Bowling: Panyangara 9-1-53-0 (1nb, 2w); Madziva 6-0-41-0 (1w); Nyumbu 10-0-52-2 (2w); Chibhabha 4-0-20-0  (2w); Creamer 10-0-44-3; Raza 4-0-19-0; Williams 7-0-43-1 (1nb,2w)

Zimbabwe Innings
Masakadza                                  c Wheeler b Williamson         57
Chibhabha                                   b McClenaghan                         32
Ervine                                            run out Wheeler                       32
Chigumbura                                c Guptill b Sodhi                        3
Williams                                        c Guptill b Nesheam                63
Sikanda Raza                               c Nesheem b Sodhi                  5
Chakabva                                     c and b McCullum                     3
Creamer                                       run out Wheeler                       14
Madziva                                        c  Neesham b McClenaghan 2
Panyangara                                 b McClenaghan                         7
Nyumbu                                       not out                                          1
Extras                                            (6lb, 10w)                                     16
Total                                              (all out 47.4ov)                          235

F-o-W:  1-97 (Chibhabha, 22.1 ov), 2-105 (Masakadza, 23.5 ov), 3-114 (Chigumbura, 26.3 ov), 4-159 (Ervine, 32.6 ov), 5-172 (Sikandar Raza, 36.3 ov), 6-177 (Chakabva, 37.3 ov), 7-212 (Cremer, 44.4 ov), 8-224 (Williams, 45.6 ov),9-232 (Panyangara, 47.1 ov), 10-235 (Madziva, 47.4 ov)
Bowling:  Wheeler 9-1-34-0 (3w); McCullum 9-0-47-1; McClenaghan 8.4 -0-36-3 (3w); Neesham 3-1-16-1 (1w); Elliot 5-0-26-0; Sodhi 10-0-47-2; Williamson 3-0-23-1 (3w).