Zimbabwe have clinched the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier B 2022 title after they defeated the Netherlands by 37 runs in the final of the eight-team tournament played in front of a capacity crowd at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Sunday.

Sikandar Raza, so often the top scorer, starred with the ball this time round as his superb return of four wickets for eight runs inspired the hosts’ magnificent fightback to clinch the silverware.

Zimbabwe batted first, as they have done successfully in every match in this tournament, having won the toss.

As usual, the opening pair of Craig Ervine and Regis Chakabva attacked the bowling almost from the first delivery, with 12 runs coming off both the first two overs.

They put on 30 together before Logan van Beek bowled Ervine, who was beaten attempting a drive, for 10.

Zimbabwe made another change to their middle order, moving Sean Williams up to number three.

Chakabva hit his second six, but Williams had only just got off the mark when Chakabva tried a reverse sweep against Bas de Leede and was out lbw for 27, scored off 16 balls – 42 for two in the fifth over.

Wessly Madhevere came in next and pulled the first delivery he faced for four.

However, when he had scored nine he tried to hit the left-arm spinner Tim Pringle for six over midwicket, only to be caught on the boundary – 54 for three after six overs.

This brought the usually dependable pairing of Williams and Raza together to see if they could put Zimbabwe ahead once again.

Immediately they were scoring runs off almost every delivery, with two fours from Williams boosting the total further.

After 10 overs the score was 78 for three wickets.

Raza played himself in and then drove Shariz Ahmad for six over long-off, but later in that over Williams, aiming for a midwicket six, was caught near the boundary for 28 off 25 balls – 93 for four in the 12th over.

Milton Shumba scored only a single before he was deceived by a slower ball from van Beek and skyed a catch that was taken by the wicket-keeper – 98 for five in the 13th over.

Worse was to come, as off the very next delivery Raza, trying to turn a leg-side ball from van Beek, was given out lbw by the umpire for 19 off 14 balls – 98 for six.

This brought to the crease Tony Munyonga, who had replaced the injured Blessing Muzarabani in the team, to join Ryan Burl.

After 15 overs Zimbabwe were struggling at 109 for six wickets with their last two specialist batters together.

Munyonga scored seven off 13 balls but, trying a leg-side hit off a straight ball from de Leede, was bowled at 111 for seven in the 16th over.

Much now depended on Burl and he hit two fine boundaries.

Unfortunately, the new man, Luke Jongwe, failed to respond to a call for a second run from Burl, and was rooted to his crease while his partner was run out for 15, scored off 11 balls – 121 for eight in the 18th over.

This left Jongwe and Wellington Masakadza together and they struggled to keep the score moving.

Jongwe then attempted a leg-side hit to a straight ball from Paul van Meekeren, and was adjudged lbw for six off nine balls.

Zimbabwe were bowled out for 132 in the final over, with three balls to spare, as Masakadza, swinging his bat, was caught at the wicket for four off Fred Klaasen, leaving Richard Ngarava not out with one.

All the Zimbabwe batters scored at least one run, five reached double figures, but the highest innings was Williams’ 28.

Van Beek had bowled superbly for the Netherlands with his medium-pacers, taking three wickets for 18 runs in his four overs.

De Leede took two for 19 in three overs, while the four other bowlers used all took one wicket each.

Madhevere bowled the first over for Zimbabwe, off which only a wide and a single to Max O’Dowd accrued.

At the other end, Max O’Dowd hit Masakadza for a six and a four off successive deliveries.

However, Madhevere, given another over, trapped O’Dowd lbw for 12 with his first delivery, and then with his faster delivery dismissed de Leede (1) the same way with his fifth ball – two down for 17.

Stephan Myburgh, renowned as a powerful hitter, then faced the bowling and hit Madhevere and Masakadza for six in turn.

He was settling into a potentially devastating partnership with Tom Cooper when a brilliant throw from Shumba at extra cover ended it by running out Cooper for eight – 45 for three in the seventh over.

Raza kept the batters under restraint and Myburgh, taking a risk, swung mightily at a straight ball and was plumb lbw for 22 off 24 balls – 54 for four in the 10th over.

It was a superb maiden over from Raza, and at the halfway stage Zimbabwe were back in the match.

As the pressure mounted, the Netherlands captain, Scott Edwards (7), chose the wrong ball from Williams to try to sweep, lobbying a simple catch to Ngarava at square leg.

Then it was Raza’s turn again: van Beek (0) played a half-hearted reverse sweep against Raza and had his leg stump knocked back – 56 for six in the 12th over.

Pringle scored four before he went on a leg-side heave against Raza and was bowled, as the Netherlands batters seemed to sink further into panic mode and cracked under the pressure.

Klaasen came and went first ball, lbw to a spinning delivery from Raza, and the score was now 62 for eight wickets, the match now virtually lost beyond retrieval.

Teja Nidamanuru was the one man to play the bowling on merit and he was still there, but was unable to take charge and get the score moving safely again, until he lofted Burl for a fine straight six.

A six by his latest partner, van Meekeren, three balls later showed a final desperate attempt by the Netherlands to turn the match, but it was now too late.

In the following over, van Meekeren (10) was caught in the deep aiming for another six off Jongwe – 87 for nine in the 18th over.

Ngarava took the final wicket in the 19th over, a fast yorker that accounted for Nidamanuru lbw after scoring a gallant 19 off 25 balls.

Ahmad was not out with one and the final score was 95, giving Zimbabwe a great victory.

Raza’s remarkable four wickets for eight runs took pride of place in the bowling figures, while Madhevere, who started the Netherlands’ woes, had two for 15.

With one wicket for Williams, seven batters fell to Zimbabwe’s spinners.

Both Zimbabwe and the Netherlands have qualified for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 to be held in Australia starting in October.

Winning the qualifier final saw Zimbabwe securing the final Group B spot in the first round at the main showpiece alongside Ireland, Scotland and West Indies.

The Netherlands will join Sri Lanka, Namibia and the United Arab Emirates in Group A.

Zimbabwe have made it two victories in as many games to book their place in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier B 2022 semi-finals in Bulawayo.

It however had to take a determined and disciplined performance from their bowlers, in particular Ryan Burl who took three wickets, to complete a 23-run victory over Jersey at Queens Sports Club on Tuesday.

After a below-par batting performance, with the exceptions of Sean Williams and Luke Jongwe, Zimbabwe went out to field under considerable pressure, but their skill, experience and discipline enabled them to triumph in the end.

The home side again lost the toss and were asked to bat first, but they suffered a bad start to their innings.

After a wide was bowled, Craig Ervine swept the first legitimate delivery of the match, from the left-arm spinner Ben Stevens, for four, but was caught off the fifth, to make the score five for one wicket.

Williams came in at number three and immediately went on the attack, hitting Charles Perchard for three fours and a two in the second over of the innings.

However, his partner Regis Chakabva was again run out attempting a quick single, after scoring six.

Wessly Madhevere scored only a single, as he missed a sweep against Elliot Miles and was out lbw, leaving Zimbabwe reeling at 38 for three in the sixth over.

Sikandar Raza now joined Williams, who continued to attack in superb fashion, scoring off almost every delivery and racing to his fifty off only 32 deliveries.

When he reached 57, however, he too was dismissed lbw, missing a sweep off Dominic Blampied – he had faced 39 balls and the score was now 89 for four wickets in the 13th over.

This was followed in the next over by the loss of Raza, who was caught near the leg boundary for 18 off the bowling of Benjamin Ward.

Zimbabwe were now in considerable trouble at 95 for five wickets.

There was a brief respite with Milton Shumba and Burl in partnership, but first Shumba skyed the ball to be caught by the wicketkeeper for 10, and then Burl caught near the leg boundary for 11.

At this point Zimbabwe had slumped to 115 for seven wickets in the 18th over.

All the specialist batters were now gone, but Jongwe did his best for the side, and hit Julius Sumerauer for a six and a four off successive deliveries.

Wellington Masakadza was the next batter to go, caught for two off a leg-side hit in the final over, bowled by Miles.

From the final three deliveries Jongwe gallantly hit a six and two fours and thanks to his late assault, 29 not out off 13 balls, Zimbabwe were able to finish on 146 for eight wickets.

Jongwe’s runs were to prove vital for the hosts and perhaps in the end meant the difference between victory and defeat.

It was a fine bowling and fielding effort by the Jersey team, with six of their seven bowlers taking wickets, and Miles with two for 25 was the most successful.

The target of 147 was expected to prove quite challenging for an inexperienced team, but the pressure was on the Zimbabwean bowlers to ensure they did not reach it.

Harrison Carlyon scored six runs off the first over, bowled by Tendai Chatara, and then he and Nick Greenwood made eight off Blessing Muzarabani’s first over, followed by another seven off an over from Masakadza.

In the fourth over, however, Greenwood miscued a pull off Chatara and was caught at square leg by Ervine for 10 to make the score 21 for one.

Asa Tribe came in next and hit the next two balls, bowled outside his off stump, for four, so after four overs the score was 29 for one.

When the spinners, Williams and Burl, came on the batters struggled to keep the score moving quickly enough, and soon Tribe (21) miscued a pull off Burl to be caught by Madhevere at midwicket, with the score 54 for two in the 10th over.

Jony Jenner quickly went, caught by Masakadza off Burl for three – 62 for three in the 12th over, and the required run rate had now increased to more than 10 runs an over.

Burl picked up a third wicket when Stevens holed out on the midwicket boundary for three, and with the score 67 for four in the 14th over Zimbabwe now held a definite advantage for the first time.

The opening batter, Carlyon, was still there, but with 27 off 39 balls he was not able to score fast enough to meet Jersey’s needs at this stage of the game.

After 15 overs Jersey still required 69 runs in the last five overs, a very difficult task for any team.

Carlyon pulled Muzarabani for six, but the bowlers were able to bowl too many dot balls and the batting side fell further behind with every over.

Fifty runs were needed off the final three overs, 42 off the last two.

Ward, who had batted aggressively, hit Jongwe for a four and a six off successive balls, which left 28 to be made from the final over, to be bowled by Muzarabani.

Off the first ball, Carlyon was caught at the wicket for 45, scored off 56 balls, and with the batters now resigned to defeat, only four runs were scored off the over.

The final total, therefore, was 123 for five wickets, with Ward unbeaten on 35, scored off 20 balls.

The bowling of Burl did much to restrict the Jersey batters, as he took three wickets for 13 runs in his four overs, while Williams was nearly as economical, taking no wickets but conceding only 15 runs.

In their final Group A match on Thursday, Zimbabwe will face the United States of America (USA), who trounced Singapore at Bulawayo Athletic Club on Tuesday by 132 runs.

Both Zimbabwe and the USA have four points and are through to the semi-finals, but they will be fighting to finish top of the group.