Raza hails Zimbabwe’s ‘character and courage’

At the halfway mark of Zimbabwe’s Super Sixes match against Ireland on 16 March, all-rounder Sikander Raza was despondent. He had rallied the lower order to make a fighting 69*, allowing his side to post a target of 212, but he wasn’t sure it was enough.

“When I got back to the change room, my head was down. But (captain Graeme) Cremer and everyone else came to me and said, no, Raz, that should be enough, we will back ourselves to get it,” revealed Raza.

And they did. An excellent performance by the spinners had Ireland bundled out for 104 as Zimbabwe won by an emphatic 107 runs to go top of the points table.

“We can’t let the country down,” said an elated Raza, who was named Player of the Match for the third time in the tournament. “The way the boys came out ... it’s the character and courage we had.”

Cremer, who described the match as the “performance of my career”, admitted to being nervous at the break. Yet, he said, he always believed they could do it, especially given their familiarity with the Harare Sports Club surface.

Paying rich tribute to Raza, who also picked up one wicket, he said, “To bat with the tail like that wasn’t easy.

“I don’t have to motivate him. He wants to do well all the time. He loves performing on the big stage. He’s been a huge asset for us the last two years.”

William Porterfield, the Ireland captain, was disappointed at the jolt their campaign had got.

“At half-time we were confident,” he said. “[Then] we let ourselves down with the bat.”

While they didn’t expect the surface to be as slow as it was, it was credit to the Zimbabwe bowlers for bowling well, he said. “When you gift early wickets like that ... they really put a squeeze on from there. Nobody was around for long enough to build partnerships.”

Ireland next take on Scotland at the same venue on 18 March.