Zimbabwe crush Canada by 175 runs

 NAGPUR: Zimbabwe recorded their first victory in the World Cup 2011 when they demolished Canada by a huge margin of 175 runs in their Group A match here at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground on Monday.

Chasing 299, Canada were all out for 123 runs in 42.1 overs. Their main scorers were Zubin Surkari (26), Gunasekeara (24) and Jimmi Hansra (20).

Ray Price (3-16) and Graeme Cremer (3-31) were the most successful bowlers for Zimbabwe,.

This is Zimbabwe’s largest victory in World Cups and the fourth largest in One-day Internationals.

Batting first after their captain Elton Chigumbura won the toss, Tatenda Taibu and Craig Ervine helped Zimbabwe set Canada a daunting 299-run target for victory.

Taibu was unfortunate to miss his third ODI century by just two runs as he was dismissed by Balaji Rao for 98. He hit nine boundaries in his 99-ball innings.

Craig Ervine also batted very well to make 85 from 81 balls with two sixes and six fours.

He and Taibu made together 181 runs for the third wicket partnership which helped Zimbabwe compile a big score but no other batsman except Sean Williams (30), Graeme Cremer (26) and Prosper Utseya (22) could make any significant score.

The 181-run partnership between Taibu and Craig Irvine is the highest partnership for Zimbabwe in World Cups, surpassing the 166-run stand between Grant Flower and Craig Wishart against Namibia in 2003.

After skipper Elton Chigumbura won the toss and elected to bat, Zimbabwe lost both their openers for only seven runs before Taibu and Ervine came to rescue.

Leg-spinner Balaji Rao was the most successful bowler capturing four for 57.while seamers Khurram Chohan and Harvir Baidwan claimed two wickets each.