Australia draw first blood against Zimbabwe
Australia's Matthew Renshaw raises his bat on reaching 100 during the first game of the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club. Photo: AFP
Matt Renshaw and Nathan Ellis did a fine job as Australia defeated Zimbabwe by 59 runs in their first ODI of the three-match series at Harare Sports Club Ground on Tuesday.
Renshaw (109) blasted his maiden hundred to enable Australia to post 294-8 in the stipulated 50 overs.
Renshaw hit seven fours and three sixes in his 109-ball knock. He added 72 runs for the fifth wicket stand with Alex Carey who belted 27 off 53 balls, striking one four.
He then shared 75 runs for the sixth wicket association with Oliver Peake who struck a 40-ball 30 which featured one six and one four.
Left-armer Newman Nyamhuri was the pick of the bowlers with 5-62 in nine overs.
In response, Zimbabwe were folded for 235 in the 46th over with Craig Ervine top-scoring 59 off 60 balls.
He hammered six fours and one six in his solid knock and added 98 runs for the fifth wicket stand with skipper Sikandar Raza who chipped in with 76-ball 57, clobbering five fours. Wessly struck a 30-ball 22 with two fours while Brad Evans made 18 off 20 balls.
Fast bowler Nathan Ellis bowled extremely well for Australia, pulling off his best figures of his career, finishing with 5-31 in 9.1 overs.
Scorecard
Australia innings
Mitchell Marsh c Brian Bennett b Newman Nyamhuri 36
Travis Head b Brad Evans 4
Cooper Connolly b Sikandar Raza 51
Josh Inglis c Brendan Taylor b Newman Nyamhuri 4
Alex Carey c (Sub) b Brad Evans 27
Matt Renshaw c Wessley Madhevere b Newman Nyamhuri 109
Ollie Peake Hit Wicket b Newman Nyamhuri 30
Xavier Bartlett c Craig Ervine b Newman Nyamhuri 5
Nathan Ellis Not Out 9
Adam Zampa Not Out 3
Extras 0b 0lb 3nb 0pen 13w 16
Total (50.0 overs) 294-8
Fall of Wickets : 1-10 Head, 2-60 Marsh, 3-83 Inglis, 4-107 Connolly, 5-179 Carey, 6-254 Peake, 7-269 Bartlett, 8-288 Renshaw
Did Not Bat : Johnson
Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex
Blessing Muzarabani 10 0 46 0 4.60 2w
Brad Evans 9 0 51 2 5.67 1w
Newman Nyamhuri 9 0 62 5 6.89 7w
Sikandar Raza 10 0 62 1 6.20 3w 3nb
Wessley Madhevere 3 0 18 0 6.00
Brian Bennett 3 0 19 0 6.33
Wellington Masakadza 6 0 36 0 6.00
Zimbabwe innings
Brian Bennett c Josh Inglis b Nathan Ellis 25
Ben Curran c Nathan Ellis b Xavier Bartlett 0
Innocent Kaia c Alex Carey b Nathan Ellis 18
Brendan Taylor c Xavier Bartlett b Matt Renshaw 4
Craig Ervine b Nathan Ellis 59
Sikandar Raza b Spencer Johnson 57
Wessley Madhevere lbw Cooper Connolly 22
Brad Evans c Spencer Johnson b Adam Zampa 18
Wellington Masakadza lbw Nathan Ellis 14
Newman Nyamhuri b Nathan Ellis 1
Blessing Muzarabani Not Out 0
Extras 0b 5lb 3nb 0pen 9w 17
Total (45.1 overs) 235 all out
Fall of Wickets : 1-1 Curran, 2-45 Kaia, 3-46 Bennett, 4-62 Taylor, 5-160 Ervine, 6-181 Butt, 7-199 Madhevere, 8-227 Masakadza, 9-235 Evans, 10-235 Nyamhuri
Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex
Spencer Johnson 9 0 44 1 4.89 1w 3nb
Xavier Bartlett 8 0 41 1 5.12 2w
Nathan Ellis 9.1 1 31 5 3.38 1w
Matt Renshaw 4 0 32 1 8.00
Adam Zampa 10 0 55 1 5.50 1w
Cooper Connolly 4 0 23 1 5.75
Ollie Peake 1 0 4 0 4.00
Umpire Alexander Wharf
Umpire Langton Rusere
Video Rashid Riaz
Match Referee Andrew Pycroft
Result: Australia won by 59 runs (Reuters)