Zimbabwe: How it all went so horribly wrong

It was all going swimmingly for Zimbabwe at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018. The Group B campaign went largely to plan, with wins over Nepal, Afghanistan and Hong Kong, and then a tie in the final game against Scotland. In the Super Sixes then, the tournament hosts started with a big 107-run win against one of the top sides – Ireland.

What could go wrong from there? As it turned out, almost everything. Windies were always going to be the toughest opponents, and the 1975 and 1979 world champions proved exactly that, winning by four wickets. Still, Zimbabwe were in pole position to get to the finish line and go to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. But it didn’t work to plan at all, as the United Arab Emirates, out of the top-two race early on in the Super Sixes, stunned Zimbabwe by three runs (DLS method) in the last game, leaving the World Cup regulars’ chances hanging by a slim, almost invisible, thread. And that too disappeared when the weather and Afghanistan held steady to pull off the win they needed on the final day of the tournament to confirm Zimbabwe's exit.

Here’s how Zimbabwe’s journey at the qualifiers played out.

23 February: Williams and Zhuwao called upIt was crunch time, and the tour of Sharjah to play Afghanistan hadn’t gone too well. Afghanistan swept the Twenty20 Internationals 2-0 and then won the one-day internationals 4-1.

Changes were needed, and fortunately for Zimbabwe, Sean Williams had recovered from a finger injury and the seemingly forgotten Cephas Zhuwao was in good form, having hit 235 runs in four 50-over games against Kenya for Zimbabwe A. Williams came back to bolster the middle-order batting and Zhuwao, recalled after a 10-year gap, was to add some muscle at the top of the order.

4 March: Taylor and Raza hit the ground runningNepal were expected to be tricky opponents, but after winning the toss and opting to bat, Zimbabwe played almost the perfect ODI innings. Zhuwao did what was expected of him, hitting 41 in 23 balls at the top. Solomon Mire, the other opener, scored 52 in 41. Brendan Taylor and Sikandar Raza, who would go on to have such an impact on the tournament, put together 173 for the fifth wicket, Taylor going on to score 100 and Raza 123, as Zimbabwe put up 380/6. Then it was a matter of picking up regular wickets, and Raza led the way there too, returning 3/48, as Nepal were stopped 116 runs short.

6 March: Afghanistan threat avertedThis was the big match of the group stage, and after they opted to bat, no one apart from Taylor (89) and Raza (60) got going, and Zimbabwe could only put up 196. Another loss to Afghanistan seemed on the cards, but this was not Sharjah. It was Bulawayo, and the bowlers stood tall. Brian Vitori struck at the start and at the end, Blessing Muzarabani picked up 4/47, Raza 3/40, and Afghanistan fell agonisingly short – by two runs.

8 March: Vitori suspended from bowling, againVitori, Zimbabwe’s premier paceman once he was allowed to resume bowling in international cricket in January 2018, was filmed while bowling against Afghanistan and suspended immediately after. He had returned 2/46and 2/31 in the two games till then, and that was it for Vitori as he was out for the third time in his career, having served suspensions for a faulty bowling action in February 2016 and December 2016.

10 March: Masakadza comes to the partyHamilton Masakadza, one of Zimbabwe’s most experienced players, had had a pretty quiet time in the lead up to the qualifiers, and had scores of 17 and 3 in the first two games, but turned it on against Hong Kong. Zhuwao provided another quick start and Taylor chipped in with a 46 later, but it was Masakadza’s 84 that took Zimbabwe to 263/9 and beyond Hong Kong’s reach. Raza failed with the bat but returned his third consecutive three-for to stop Hong Kong at 174. Three in three for Zimbabwe then, and a Super Sixes slot booked.

12 March: Honours even in BulawayoScotland were in the middle of an equally good run, and the two teams were separated only on net run rate. That’s how it stayed after the last group game, with Zimbabwe putting up 210 after a five-for from Safyaan Sharif and a half-century from Craig Ervine, and Scotland stopping at the same number after three-wicket hauls from Tendai Chisoro and Graeme Cremer. That gave Zimbabwe three points out of a maximum of four to go to the Super Sixes with.

16 March: Passing the Ireland testIreland were the first of the major opponents in the Super Sixes, and it got tricky for Zimbabwe at 87/5 and then 139/7 after they were put in. Over to Raza again and, this time, Chisoro from No. 9. Raza downed the shutters completely, and Chisoro exceeded expectations as the two added 42 to revive the innings. Chisoro fell for 21, and it was only then that Raza opened up, slamming two sixes in the last over to end unbeaten on 69. Chisoro and Cremer did the job with the ball then as Ireland were bowled out for 104. That gave Zimbabwe five points and a great shot at finishing in the top two.

19 March: Trumped by Lewis, Hope and SamuelsTaylor, the top run-scorer at that stage, added 138 to his tally after Cremer opted for first strike to take the total to 289. It might have been more, had it not been for a bit of a collapse at the back-end, but it was still a big total. Not in the face of the onslaught from Evin Lewis, Shai Hope and Marlon Samuels, though. Lewis scored 64, Hope 76, and Samuels 86, and the job was done – from Windies’ point of view – with one over left. The first major setback, but with UAE, bottom of the table, next up, it was all set up nicely for Zimbabwe.

**22 March: All that can go wrong …**UAE, asked to bat, rode on useful knocks from Rohan Mustafa (31), Ghulam Shabber (40), Rameez Shahzad (59), Shaiman Anwar (33) and Mohammad Naveed (22*) to score 235/7 in 47.5 overs when the rain came down. When Zimbabwe began their chase, they had 230 to score in 40 overs. Doable, but tricky. It proved more tricky than doable, as Peter Moor’s 39 took up 61 balls, and left Williams (80) and Raza (34) with too much to do. Ervine did his best at the end, hitting 22* in 17 balls, but Zimbabwe fell three runs short.

Had Zimbabwe won, they would have met Windies in the final of the qualifiers, with both teams travelling to the World Cup. Instead that place went to Afghanistan. As a result, in 2019, Zimbabwe will not be a part of the World Cup for the first time since 1983.