| Zimbabwe start winning Mangalam

Hobart: Zimbabwe won the Group B match of the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup. They beat Ireland by 31 runs in the second match yesterday.

Batting first, Zimbabwe scored 174 runs for seven wickets. Batting back, Ireland’s struggle ended at 143 for nine. Sikandar Raza’s all-round performance (82 runs including five sixes and five fours in 48 balls and one wicket) was the basis for the win.

Blessing Muzrabani conceded 23 runs and took three wickets for Zimbabwe. Richard Ngarwe and Thende Chatara took two wickets each while Sean Williams and Sikander Raza took one wicket each. Richard Ngarwe dismissed Paul Stirling (0) in the first over. Soon Lorcan Tucker (11 off 11 balls) also fell prey to Ngarwe. Captain Andy Balbirnie (three) was caught by Sean Irvine off Muzrabani before he settled down. Harry Tector (one) also disappointed.

Scotland were sweating 22 runs for 4 thanks to the resistance of Kurtis Kampfer (27 off 22 balls), George Dockrell (24 off 20 balls) and Gareth Delaney (24 including a six and a four off 20 balls). Barry McCarthy (22 not out with two sixes and a four off 16 balls) was brilliant in the last overs but could not lead the team to victory. Sikandar Raza is the star of the match. West Indies will face Zimbabwe in their next group match tomorrow. Ireland will also face Scotland in another match.