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Zimbabwe face the UAE in their 2015 Cricket World Cup game at Nelson. You can follow the live scores of this match from 9:00am AEDT.
The World Cup is yet to feature a game that goes the distance and is decided in the final over.
It’s true that Scotland managed to pick up seven Kiwi wickets in their chase of a meagre total, and the Irish chased down more than 300 to complete a surprise win over West Indies, but that also happened with a lot of gas left in the tank.
Zimbabwe fought – and how – when they took on South Africa in a game that was forecast to be one of great disparity.
First they had South Africa 4/83, with the likes of Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers all dismissed. Unfortunately they lost steam after that and the pair of David Miller and JP Duminy rocketed the Proteas to 339 with their unbeaten fifth-wicket stand.
Facing bowling as mighty as South Africa’s – with Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander leading them – Zimbabwe looked unruffled.
The early wicket of Sikandar Raza did not deter them as Justice Chibhabha and Hamilton Masakadza guided the team through to 2/137 in 24 overs. Both hit half-centuries, and Brendan Taylor then chipped in with a 40 of his own to raise the hopes of an upset.
A late-order collapse left Zimbabwe short of that target but they had won hearts. Facing an easier opponent in UAE they start favourites.
UAE are playing in their first World Cup since the 1996 edition. The most stunning site of that tournament was the then-UAE captain Sultan Zarawani walking out to face the speed of Allan Donald without a helmet. He was smacked in the head, but continued without a helmet for six more balls before being dismissed and taken to hospital.
There will be no repeat showing – players have begun to value helmets a tad more, even if the Zimbabwean bowling isn’t as strong as South Africa’s.
UAE are the fourth and the final qualifier in the tournament and together with Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, the lower-ranked nations have generally played well in the tournament.
UAE will have two reasonable opportunities to show what they are capable of – against Zimbabwe and Ireland – because of the close proximity of their rankings. That’s also another reason why this game is so important for them.
Zimbabwe will still start favourites and given their recent performances, an upset looks out of question.
You can follow the live score of this Zimbabwe vs UAE World Cup 2015 encounter from 9:00am (AEDT) and post your comments in the section below.
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