END OF OVER:50 | 19 Runs | ZIM: 408/6 | RR: 8.16
- Tadiwanashe Marumani18 (6b)
- Brad Evans3 (3b)
- Jasdeep Singh10-0-97-2
- Abhishek Paradkar9-0-78-3
12.40 pm Zimbabwe took their sweet time seeing off USA's new ball pair before going berserk across the final 35 overs sparked by the arrival of stand-in captain Sean Williams, who blitzed a 65-ball hundred and finished with 174 off 101 to drive Zimbabwe to their highest ever ODI total. No prizes for guessing that it's also the most USA have ever conceded. USA's fielding was uninspired from the start. Numerous drops and misfields throughout the innings. They were without Ali Khan and Saurabh Netravalkar today but this is still an incredibly bleak effort on the part of USA. They just had no energy in the field from start to finish, regardless of who was bowling. They have no hope of chasing this. But it will be interesting to see how they approach the second innings as a way of learning for the future. Stay with us for the start of the reply when Rvel Zahid takes over in the central commentary position.
For those keen to watch the chase to see how USA fares.... If you're in the USA, you can watch the Zimbabwe vs USA match LIVE on ESPN+.
Sean Williams speaks after his 174: "It was a fantastic wicket. The way we started out there, it was a little slow, so we thought if we could pick the intensity up against the spinners, we could see where we go from there. Like I said at the beginning, we play to win regardless of which team we are playing and that shows it all. I'm looking to play the ball as late as I can and visualizing it going to the boundary. It's amazing what can happen if you continue to dream big."
Fahad Butt: "Welcome to the big stage USA. An eye opener to be at this level."
AiyoPol: "I don't get it, why isn't the US a better team? Aren't they technically richer than Zimbabwe? Whats stopping them from investing a ton of money into hiring the best coaches and high performance trainers and the like?" I don't think I could fully cover all the reasons why, even if I spent the whole second innings dissecting it.