Zimbabwe edge Oman in World Cup Qualifier thriller, Williams stars with 142

HARARE – Zimbabwe’s senior stateman Sean Williams smashed a brilliant 142 off 103 balls to lead his team to a 14-run victory over Oman in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Bulawayo on Thursday.

Williams, who had scored two centuries in the group stage, continued his superb form with the bat as he helped Zimbabwe post a challenging 332/7 in their 50 overs.

He shared a 70-run stand with Sikandar Raza, who became the fastest Zimbabwean to reach 4000 ODI runs, and a 62-run partnership with Luke Jongwe, who chipped in with an unbeaten 43.

Oman, who had upset Ireland earlier in the tournament, gave a spirited chase but fell short of the target by 14 runs.

Despite a century from Kashyap Prajapati and a solid 45 from Aqib Ilyas, Oman failed to chase down the target as they kept losing wickets at crucial moments. They had reached 111/1 in the 20th over, but could not maintain the momentum and fell behind the required run rate.

Zimbabwe’s bowlers shared the wickets around, with Blessing Muzarabani (3), Richard Ngarava (2) and Tendai Chatara (3) taking two each. Williams was named the player of the match for his outstanding knock.

The win gave Zimbabwe another two important points and strengthened their claim for a spot at the ICC World Cup in India later this year.