In the second semi-final of today, Zimbabwe and Kenya played in a match where one side showed way more urgency to make it to the cup in February, while the other was completely outclassed. With Zimbabwe being the victorious side, they ended up winning by over 7 wickets and were completely dominant from start to finish.
In an all-around strong performance, it showed that this side wanted to get back to where they belong once again after having a tough 2024, where they were upset by Uganda to have a rare miss. Looking at captain Sikandar Raza, he understood the meaning of having an absolutely cruising match in this situation, and it helped his side cross the line with ease.
Meanwhile, Kenya did show some fight towards the end of these qualifiers, but their very inconsistent efforts got to them once again, and have a downfall that continues. Not having made a T20I World Cup in well over a decade, they have seemed to lessen in all areas of play and will need to fix it in order to become what they were just a couple years back.
As they were a side that once could beat teams like England, Australia, and India, they are now struggling against some of the lower-level nations, which has just been extremely sad to witness. Captain Dhiren Ghondaria will try taking this match into his memory and building back, so their more ready for the next time they play.
Kenya: A One-Man Show Carried This Batting Unit To An Ok Score That Was More Respectable
Looking at Kenya’s batting unit, they heavily struggled to get going fast once again and didn’t provide any sort of threat down the order either. As Puskhar Shivakumar Sharma opened the batting he and captain Dhiren Ghondaria couldn’t make much of their opportunity as the duo went for 6 combined runs before their first wicket fell.
With it being Ghondaria who was removed, their other opener was able to score 11 before being caught at 31/2. Seeing that Rakep Patel was still in the match, he was the one set batsman throughout the innings, despite several wickets falling around him, including Sachin Bhudia, whose wicket fell an over right after Sharma’s.
Being at 36/3, Sukdeep Singh came and created a nice 28-run partnership with Patel as they got the side to 64 runs, before being the fourth batsman that got sent right back to the bench. Seeing that Singh hit all his runs of just one six, he was playing a very solid defensive way, but couldn’t continue in that style.
Then, Rakep Patel made another decent 34-run combination with Sachin Gill, as it helped their lead batsmen score 65 runs on 47 deliveries, while mixing great boundaries with a massive six. One of those pieces that continued seeming unstoppable, when he caught and bowled by Richard Ngarava, Kenya just managed a little over 20 during their final four overs.
Zimbabwe: Spinners and Pacers Were On-Point For This Unit Once Again
On another day where this side looked on-point with their bowling, they were able to make a massive difference during this match in limiting Kenya’s scoring. The right-handed Blessing Muzarabani was a huge bouncer threat as he created two wickets in this match and was allowing less than 5 an over in this match.
Someone who consistently stood up to the same line and length, he was really hammering batsmen in many different ways, while Richard Nagarva was extremely brilliant on the other side. Although he started of pretty slowly, he was key during death overs and also had another wicket of the dangerous Rakep Patel, when it seemed like he was taking over.
Right-handed medium pacer Brad Evans created a lot of important overs in the middle as well, since he was impactful with that medium pace and only allowed 21 during a full quota of overs. Picking up a wicket on his end too, it was clear that he had an intent to get more and was very close multiple times in this match.
Seeing that even Tinotenda Maposa once again showed up after picking a wicket, he was much better than the 8.33 economy showed, while being their last big-time pacer. Talking about spin, Sikandar Raza once again showed up after bowling a great full four overs and allowing around 4.5 an over, while Ryan Burl also had one key over.
Zimbabwe: Opening Pair Helps Remaining Batters Easily Complete This Chase
With the Chevrons having a top-notch performance, a lot of credit goes to their opening pair once again as they really helped make it more simpler for pieces down the order. Opener Brian Bennett did a tremendous job hitting another half-century as he looked like he was dominating on all cylinders once again.
Scoring 51 runs, he started with 8 fours, while hitting two sixes much later on and kept the strike rate up. After a wonderful 76-run opening pair with Tadiwanashe Marumani, Bennett was removed on a tremendous boundary catch by Jasraj Kundi, but had already done much of the damage to get them in a winning position.
Talking about Marumani, he hit 39 runs on 27 balls, while adding five fours to his game as well. Taking a wonderful 24-run partnership, he continued thriving with Sikandar Raza at the other end and seemed to be on point with his shots. Hoping to really stay there till the end, he tried going for a big shot and was taken for a catch way behind the leg-side, making Zimbabwe 100/2.
As Ryan Burl came in, him and Raza barely got anything going on, as the duo could only score 8 together before the captain had to depart. It then left them with Tony Munyonga, who helped create a duo with Burl to help Zimbabwe chase down the total and head into being qualified for the World Cup.
Kenya: Bowling Attack Really Struggled To Get Anything Done To Change This Match
For Kenya’s bowling, this was a very nightmarish performance as they did not seem ready at all and were getting smashed from the first over itself. Peter Langat only got one over to bowl and allowed 11 massive runs during it, while also not being able to find the center of the stumps.
Their other main pacer in Lucas Olouch, was just given one over and allowed 6 boundaries in it, while getting absolutely demolished by Brian Bennett. Seeing that Sachin Gill couldn’t provide any such threat either, and Nitish Hirani almost gave up 9 an over, their only real star was left-handed spinner Vraj Patel, who took two wickets while allowing 29 in four overs.
Also Read: ICC WTC 2023-25 : Temba Bavuma Slams Australia’s Horrible Sledging