Tri Series 2016: Zimbabwe vs West Indies 3rd ODI - 5 Talking Points

West Indies came into the 3rd ODI of the tri-nation series vs Zimbabwe as firm favorites but eventually made a mess of the total set by their opponents. After putting up a competitive 257 on the board, the Zimbabwean bowlers bowled their heart out and secured a famous tie in front of an energetic Bulawayo crowd.

Till the very last over of the innings the match was gone for all money as far as Zimbabwe was concerned, but an inspired final over by Donald Tiripano turned the tables upside down as Zimbabwe held the Windies to a nerve-wracking tie. It was one of the most closely fought matches between the two nations and the host captain Graeme Cremer was pretty pleased with his team’s performance.

1. Craig Ervine and Sikandar Raza’s brilliant partnership for the 3rd wicket

After winning the toss and batting first, Zimbabwe got off to a disastrous start losing their first two wickets for only 46 runs. In came Sikandar Raza and Craig Ervine and the whole complexion of the game changed. Ervine started scoring quickly and was very well supported by Raza. The duo stitched together a valuable 144 run partnership which bailed the hosts out of trouble.

Ervine scored a magnificent 92 and was eventually dismissed by Shanon Gabriel while Raza chipped in with a crucial 77. Ervine’s innings was constructed with 6 fours while Raza smashed seven fours. By the time the partnership was broken, the duo had taken the team’s total to 190.

2. Carlos Brathwaite’s heroics with the ball

Windies captain Carlos Brathwaite was the wrecker in chief as far as the Windies bowling line-up was concerned and finished with figures of 4/48. He got the initial breakthrough dismissing Brian Chari for 15 and was also involved in running out Chamu Chibhabha soon after.

After his good showing in the opening spell, Brathwaite returned strongly in the 2nd spell dismissing set batsman Sikandar Raza and followed it up with two more wickets. It was his spell that prevented the hosts from scoring a really big total.

3. Shai Hope’s brilliant century

Playing in only his 2nd ODI, middle order batsman Shai Hope scored a brilliant century, an innings constructed with four fours and four sixes. Hope joined Kraigg Brathwaite after the fall of Evin Lewis’s wicket and the duo looked in ominous touch and was threatening to take the game away from the hosts.

Chasing 258 to win, West Indies were in command of proceedings when the duo was batting. Hope found the gaps to perfection and ran brilliantly between the wickets. When he was eventually dismissed by Mpofu after scoring his maiden hundred, West Indies were in the driver’s seat with power hitters yet to come.

4. Sean Williams brilliant final spell

Chasing 258 to win, West Indies were very well placed at 233/3 when Sean Williams changed the whole complexion of the match with his double strike. First, he dismissed opener Kraigg Brathwaite and followed it up with dangerman Rovman Powell’s wicket.

The breakthroughs at the crucial juncture of the game provided Zimbabwe with the much-needed lift as they eventually pulled out a dramatic tie. While Brathwaite was caught by Ervine, Powell’ s stump went for a cartwheel after attempting a wild heave against Williams.

5. Donald Tiripano’s sensational final over

With four runs required of the final over, West Indies looked the clear favorites to win the match but Donald Tiripano had other ideas. He conceded a single of Jason Holder in the first ball and followed it up with a brilliant slower delivery which bamboozled Carlos Brathwaite as he attempted a wild slog and was caught at long on.

With 3 required of four, the visitors lost one more wicket in the form of run out as Ashley Nurse surrendered his wicket backing up too much at the non-striker’s end. It was a sensational over till then by the youngster and went on to concede two more runs in the next two deliveries.

With one run required of one ball, Tiripano bowled a wonderfully disguised slower ball which missed the bat of Jason Holder. Jonathan Carter who was at the non-striker’s end was hoping to scrape through but wicket-keeper Peter Moors ran him out to hand Zimbabwe a famous tie.