CWC Qualifiers, Craig Ervine clocks his fourth ODI century: Stats
Zimbabwe skipper Craig Ervine smashed a well-paced century against Nepal in the opening fixture of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers 2023 at the Harare Sports Club. This was Ervine's fourth ODI century as he guided Zimbabwe to an eight-wicket victory over Nepal. His knock of 121* from 128 deliveries was laced with 15 fours and a maximum. Here we decode his stats.
A measured hand from Ervine
The veteran batter handed Zimbabwe a decent start by adding 45 runs alongside Joylord Gumbie. He then stitched an 82-run partnership with Wesley Madhevere, taking the score beyond the 120-run mark. Later, Ervine joined forces with Sean Williams and stitched a match-winning 164*-run partnership that allowed Zimbabwe to chase down the target. Williams was the aggressor, while Ervine played his natural game.
A look at his ODI numbers
Courtesy of this knock, Ervine has raced to 3,156 runs in 111 ODIs at an average of 33.57. He is among the 10 Zimbabweans to complete 3,000 ODI runs. Among active cricketers, only Williams and Sikandar Raza are ahead of him in terms of runs. Besides four tons, he has slammed 18 fifties. He made his ODI debut against India in 2010.
His ODI numbers in 2023
2023 has been tough for Zimbabwean batters, but Ervine has scored the most runs for them in ODIs. He has slammed 257 runs this year in six matches at an average of 64.25. Only Williams (222) has scored 200-plus runs in this period.
How did the match pan out?
Nepal batted first and their openers Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh added 171 runs. Both the batters scored fifties and laid the platform for a big score. Kushal Malla (41) and Rohit Paudel (31) played decent cameos to post 290/8. Zimbabwe in reply took only 44.1 overs to chase down the target. Ervine and Williams both slammed tons and stitched a 163-run stand.
