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SHARJAH, April 6: Douglas Marillier hit exactly 100 as Zimbabwe avenged their World Cup defeat against Kenya with a hard-fought five-wicket win in the Sharjah Cup here on Saturday (partly reported in Sunday’s edition).
Marillier’s maiden one-day century and his 130-run stand for the third wicket with Grant Flower enabled Zimbabwe surpass Kenya’s 225-6 with six balls to spare in the day-night international.
Flower made 59, his first run taking him past the 6,000-run mark in One-day Internationals. Retired elder brother, Andy Flower, is the only other Zimbabwean to achieve the feat.
Kenya, the first non-Test playing nation to reach the World Cup semifinals last month, had thrashed Zimbabwe by seven wickets in the Super Six round of cricket’s showpiece in South Africa.
But Marillier ensured there was no further humiliation for his team, who had lost to Pakistan on Thursday in the opening match of the four-nation event.
Zimbabwe suffered a minor scare when three wickets fell for 10 runs to make it 208-5, but captain Heath Streak and Sean Ervine kept their cool to steer their team home.
Streak ended the match off the last ball of the penultimate over with a six over long-off.
Scoreboard
KENYA:
K.O. Obuya c Taibu b Streak 0
D.O. Obuya c Rennie b Price 57
B.J. Patel b Hondo 18
S.O. Tikolo c Marillier b Price 37
T.M. Odoyo c Marillier b Hondo 46
M.O. Odumbe c and b Rennie 17
H.S. Modi not out 27
P.J. Ongondo not out 10
EXTRAS (LB-1, W-12) 13
TOTAL (for six wkts, 50 overs) 225
FALL OF WKTS: 1-3, 2-55, 3-114, 4-131, 5-161, 6-201.
DID NOT BAT: C.O. Obuya, M.A. Suji, A.O. Suji.
BOWLING: Streak 10-3-28-1; Blignaut 4-0-27-0 (8w); Hondo 8-0-37-2; Price 10-0-36-2; G.W. Flower 3-0-20-0; Marillier 6-0-30-0 (3w); Ervine 4-0-26-0; Rennie 5-0-20-1 (1w).
ZIMBABWE:
C.B. Wishart c Tikolo b C. Obuya 15
D.A. Marillier c Patel b A. Suji 100
G.Rennie c and b C. Obuya 7
G.W. Flower c K. Obuya b A. Suji 59
S.M. Ervine not out 12
A.M. Blignaut c sub b Odoyo 2
H.H. Streak not out 14
EXTRAS (LB-8, W-11, NB-2) 21
TOTAL (for five wkts, 49 overs) 230
FALL OF WKTS: 1-56, 2-68, 3-198, 4-199, 5-208.
DID NOT BAT: D.D. Ebrahim, T. Taibu, R.W. Price, D.T. Hondo.
BOWLING: M.A. Suji 10-1-27-0; Odoyo 9-2-37-1 (3w); Ongondo 1-0-6-0 (1w); C.O. Obuya 10-0-31-2 (1nb, 2w); M.O. Odumbe 10-1-50-0 (1w); Tikolo 6-0-41-0 (3w); A.O. Suji 3-0-30-2 (1nb, 1w).
RESULT: Zimbabwe won by five wickets.
UMPIRES: B. Doctrove (West Indies) and A.V. Jayaprakash (India).
TV UMPIRE: K.C. Barbour (Zimbabwe).
MATCH REFEREE: A.M. Ebrahim (Zimbabwe).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Douglas Marillier.—AFP/Reuters
