Sikandar Raza, on Tuesday (June 20), smashed the fastest century by a Zimbabwe player in the history of ODIs to power his team to a stunning 6-wicket win over the Netherlands in the ongoing ICC World Cup Qualifiers 2023.
Zimbabwe would have feared the worst after Netherlands posted their highest-ever ODI total earlier in the game. Riding on fifties from openers Vikramjit Singh (88), Max ODowd (59) and captain Scott Edwards (83), Netherlands finished their innings on a record 315 for 6.
However, Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams played whirlwind knocks to help their team chase down the huge total with 55 balls to spare. The win comes just a couple of days after they chased down 291 against Nepal with 35 balls to spare.
Sikandar Raza runs riot:
Chasing 316, Zimbabwe got off to a good start with captain Sean Ervine and his opening partner Joylord Gumbie setting the tone. Ervine scored 50 while Gumbie scored 40 as the openers added 80 runs for the first wicket. It was followed by a 62-run stand between Gumbie and Williams before Netherland dismissed the former and Wessly Madhevere in quick succession to reduce Zimbabwe to 161 for 3 from 142 for 1.
But from thereon, it was a one-way traffic as Williams and Sikandar Raza ran riot with the bat. With Williams in good touch, Raza decided to play the role of the second fiddle early on before going berserk. After Williams completed his fifty in 28 balls, Sikandar Raza reached his fifty in 36 balls.
Bas de Leede ended the dangerous stand of 84 runs between Raza and Williams by dismissing the latter for 91. Williams’ 91-run knock came off just 58 balls and contained 10 fours and 2 sixes. But unlike Williams, Raza made the most of his start. After completing his fifty off 36 balls, he took just 18 more balls to complete his century.
He hit three successive sixes off Shariz Ahmad in the 39th over and hit two more in the 41st over to reach his century and finish the game in style. The 54-ball century is now the fastest by an Zimbabwe player in the ODI history. Raza broke Williams’ record who had achieved the feat just a couple of days ago by scoring a 70-ball century against Nepal.
Raza’s knock was studded with 6 fours and 8 sixes. Zimbabwe now have two wins from two games and are looking destined to progress ahead of the group stage.
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