Twenty20 International at Harare Sports Club. BLACKCAPS 198-5 in 20 overs (Guptill 33, Worker 62, Ronchi 29; Williams 3-28) beat Zimbabwe 118-8 in 20 overs (Ervine 42, Milne 2-10, McClenaghan 2-33) by 80 runs
Scorecard
The BLACKCAPS ended their tour of Zimbabwe on an emphatic note with their third highest winning margin in Twenty20 International history.
George Worker (62 from 38 balls, 3x4, 4x6) enjoyed a dream debut, top-scoring as the side blasted 198-5 in a ruthless display of power hitting. He even managed seven off one ball — without the ball reaching the rope.
The BLACKCAPS delivered an all-round batting effort, Martin Guptill (33 from 24), Luke Ronchi (29 from 19) and a switch-hitting Colin Munro (23* from 11) showing the Zimbabwean bowling attack little respect, despite a rally from their under pressure slower bowlers.
In reply, Zimbabwe got off to a disastrous start at 34-4 after seven overs and never recovered, languishing at 50-4 at the halfway mark still needing a further 149.
Craig Ervine (42) again led the way for the home side, but as the boundaries finally began to materialise it was too little too late, the BLACKCAPS on track for most of the match for a comfortable win.
Adam Milne, who had not played for the BLACKCAPS since the quarterfinal of the ICC Cricket World Cup, made a welcome return to international cricket with a lively spell of genuine pace, digging it in and creating awkward angles for the shell-shocked batsmen.
He got the first breakthrough when Hamilton Masakadza (6) was caught behind by Ronchi, then James Neesham followed up by bowling Chamu Chibhabha (6) with his first ball next over.
Milne was imposing with 1-7 from his first three overs, pushing Zimbabwe onto the back foot from the outset.
Mitchell McClenaghan backed up the aggressive frontliners with his 2-33, while Ish Sodhi turned in an economical 1-15 off his four, plus took a stunning one-handed caught and bowled to dismiss Regis Chakabva despite having injured a finger on the same hand just minutes previously.
Not to be outdone, an aerodynamic Neesham pulled off a brilliant dive to have Graeme Cremer caught cheaply off McClenaghan, but spiked himself in the process and had to leave the field.
At the start of the day, Zimbabwe skipper Elton Chigumbura had won the toss and elected to field first in the hot and dry conditions. Kane Williamson moved himself up to open the batting and was let off the hook on 19, when Zimbabwe didn’t review a tight runout decision that replays showed to be in Zimbabwe’s favour.
The skipper had got off to a flier with 14 from five balls in the opening over, but his luck ran out when he was caught at mid-wicket by Ervine in the fourth over. At the other end, Guptill, who became only the fourth BLACKCAP to play 50 T20 Internationals, hit five fours in his whirlwind innings before being caught on the long-off boundary by Sean Williams.
Man of the match Worker overcame a nervous start to make some history on debut. His innings of 62, which included four towering sixes and three fours, was the eighth highest score by any player making his debut in T20 International cricket.
Worker was also the third New Zealander on that list, behind Scott Styris (66) and Aaron Redmond (63). The 25-year-old from the Devon Hotel Central Stags, who had been the leading runscorer in the Ford Trophy in the 2014/15 season, was undone when he was bowled by Williams in the 16th over, but by then had made quite the impression with his trademark lavish swing.
Williams was the best of the Zimbabwe attack with a respectable 3-28 from his four overs but, even as they lost wickets, the BLACKCAPS continued to play their shots until the end, with Ronchi, Munro and Nathan McCullum (18* from 7 balls) wasting little time in getting the ball to and over the boundary.
"The way the boys batted today was outstanding, everyone playing their role and sticking to their jobs — but special mention goes out to George Worker”, said BLACKCAPS captain Kane Williamson afterwards.
It was the BLACKCAPS’ final match in Zimbabwe and, after having lost the opening One-Day International by seven wickets, they had bounced back to win the ODI Series 2-1 and then comfortably claim the solitary T20 international.
The team travels to South Africa tomorrow to play two T20is and three ODIs against the Proteas.
