The West Indies suffered a shock 31-run defeat to Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Friday despite Shivnarine Chanderpaul striking his eighth ODI century, scoring 127 not out.
The unfancied hosts scored 274-8 in their 50 overs, with the West Indians managing just 243-8 in reply, to take a surprise 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
Zimbabwe had been put into bat by Chris Gayle. The West Indies captain expected the heavy cloud cover and an early 9:30am start to give his attack the advantage.
But all seven top order Zimbabweans got to double figures. Justice Chibhabha anchored the innings with 73 and Stuart Matsikenyeri hit 55 off 40 balls.
They helped to build what was always going to be a formidable total for the West Indian batsmen to chase. But the tourists were struggling right from the start of their innings. Gayle was out in the third over for just two and the West Indians then found themselves on 22-2 with Devon Smith's departure.
The arrival of Chanderpaul promised to change the tone. Indeed he was there at the end, having passed the 7,000 runs career mark in one-day internationals, reaching 7,113.
But he used up 138 balls in the process and never took command of proceedings. The story is told by his two sixes but only five other boundaries.
His main partner Runako Morton, although an imposing figure at the crease, scored 54 runs but he hardly middled a ball. He was clean bowled amid mounting frustration.
The West Indies were never able to build up a challenging momentum. They used up 36 overs to reach 139 runs, a deficit of 135 with only 14 overs remaining. And when 10 overs were left they still wanted almost 12 an over to win.
In the closing overs their task became near impossible as Zimbabwe's fielders concentrated on cutting off boundaries.
West Indies are now crucially aware that they are in a fight on this tour. The next match is at the same ground today.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
FINAL WEEK LOOMS: PSG rose to 22nd place to set up another tense challenge against 24th-placed Stuttgart, while Man City require victory against Club Brugge Manchester City are on the brink of a humiliating UEFA Champions League exit after a stunning loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, while Real Madrid is no longer at risk after routing Salzburg. Man City blew a two-goal lead in a high-stakes clash of super-wealthy underachievers that PSG won 4-2 in Paris, who could still be eliminated alongside the English champions after the final round of games next week. Only the top 24 in the 36-team standings are to advance. Man City, the 2023 champions, are in 25th place, but could squeeze into the knockout playoffs round by beating Club Brugge. “We will
Things are somewhat out of control at the Australian Open this year, and that has only a little to do with the results on the courts. Yes, there were some upsets, including Madison Keys eliminating No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the women’s singles semi-finals on Thursday. It also was the first time since 1990 that three teenagers beat top-10 men’s seeds at a Grand Slam tennis tournament. The loser of one of those matches, Daniil Medvedev, got fined US$76,000 for behaving badly. Last year’s women’s singles runner-up exited in the first round. However, the real fuss is happening elsewhere. The rowdy fans, for one
RSS