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Zimbabwe snatched victory from Canada in the 3rd Al Barakh Cup match this evening, after a tie after 20 overs each led to the match being decided through a bowl-out.

Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to field, and took early blood when Canadian opener Mulla fell to Elton Chigumbura on the first ball of the match. Rizwan Cheema then went to town on the Zim bowling, smashing 23 off 11 balls before being dealt with by Chigumbura (2/31 from three overs), with Mohammad Iqbal and Abdool Samad both chipping in to take Canada to 71/4 at the halfway mark, helped by some uninspired bowling decisions by Utseya who again places far too much trust in Keith Dabengwa (0/25 from three overs) and failed to use his in-form bowlers to full effect. Canada ended their innings on 135/7 - higher than they should have been allowed to reach, but within Zimbabwe's grasp.

In reply, Cephas Zhuwawo's international debut stuck all the wrong notes as he was removed on his first ball faced, but Hamilton Masakadza, Chamu Chibhabha and Tatenda Taibu all played their part to help Zimbabwe get off to a respectable start, with Taibu's 37 being the best of the Zimbabwean scores. A typical Zimbabwe Collapse™ in the middle-order took the wind out of their innings, though, and left Canada in the driving seat. Elton Chigumbura's 30 put Zim back within a shot of the target, but the 10 runs required from the final over proved too much for Zim, who ended with their score level with Canada's - and they had a fielding error by a Canadian player to thank for even that.

This being Twenty20, ties aren't permitted, and so the match was decided on a bowl-out - Zimbabwe comfortable won that 3-1, but if truth be told Zimbabwe should never have allowed Canada to gain the upper hand in this match, and should never have allowed themselves to be taken to a bowl-out in the first place - the side is better than this, but poor on-field decisions (also pointed out by Alastair Campbell during his commentary on the match) saw Zimbabwe blow their advantage, just as they did against Sri Lanka. A very poor performance.

Full scorecard below the cut.
Canada 135/7 (20 overs; Jethi 24, Chigumbura 2/31), Zimbabwe 135/9 (20 overs; Taibu 37, Baidwan 3/27). Scores Tied; Zimbabwe win after bowl-out (Canada 1, Zimbabwe 3).

Canada innings (20 overs maximum)	
AA Mulla		b Chigumbura		0
Rizwan Cheema		c Taibu b Chigumbura	23	
Mohammad Iqbal		b Price			22	
AM Samad		run out (Mupariwa)	18	
RR David		c Maruma b Utseya	2	
S Dhaniram		run out (Chigumbura)	5	
K Jethi			st Taibu b Maruma	24	
WD Balaji Rao		not out			22	
U Bhatti		not out			4	
    Extras		(b 4, lb 7, w 4)	15
    Total		(7 wickets; 20 overs)	135

Did not bat: HS Baidwan, H Osinde

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Mulla, 0.1 ov), 2-32 (Rizwan Cheema, 2.4 ov), 
3-59 (Samad, 5.5 ov), 4-71 (David, 9.3 ov), 5-71 (Mohammad Iqbal, 10.2 ov), 
6-78 (Dhaniram, 13.4 ov), 7-108 (Jethi, 17.2 ov)
							
Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ	
E Chigumbura	3	0	31	2	10.33	(1w)
T Mupariwa	4	0	31	0	7.75	(3w)
RW Price	4	1	17	1	4.25	
P Utseya	4	0	12	1	3.00	
KM Dabengwa	3	0	25	0	8.33	
T Maruma	2	0	8	1	4.00	

								
Zimbabwe innings (target: 136 runs from 20 overs)
H Masakadza	c David b Rizwan Cheema		15	
C Zhuwawo	c Baidwan b Osinde		0	
CJ Chibhabha	c Baidwan b Rizwan Cheema	17
T Taibu		c Osinde b Baidwan		37
S Matsikenyeri	lbw b Baidwan			6
KM Dabengwa	c Mulla b Balaji Rao		6
E Chigumbura	b Osinde			30	
T Maruma	c Osinde b Baidwan		4
T Mupariwa	not out				3
	P Utseya	run out (David)		6
    Extras	(b 3, lb 3, w 5)		11
    Total	(9 wickets; 20 overs)		135

Did not bat: RW Price

Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Zhuwawo, 0.2 ov), 2-34 (Masakadza, 5.2 ov), 
3-34 (Chibhabha, 5.5 ov), 4-51 (Matsikenyeri, 8.6 ov), 
5-61 (Dabengwa, 10.6 ov), 6-114 (Chigumbura, 16.5 ov), 
7-126 (Maruma, 19.1 ov), 8-126 (Taibu, 19.2 ov), 
9-135 (Utseya, 19.6 ov)
							
Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ	
H Osinde	4	0	22	2	5.50	
U Bhatti	2	0	15	0	7.50	(1w)
Rizwan Cheema	4	1	19	2	4.75	(1w)
HS Baidwan	4	0	27	3	6.75	(1w)
S Dhaniram	3	0	22	0	7.33	
WD Balaji Rao	3	0	24	1	8.00