Ervine inspires Zimbabwe to shock victory

His 130 came off just 108 balls and was punctuated by 11 fours and five sixes.

New Zealand’s NL McCullum picked all three wickets against Zimbabwe.

The Black Caps 22-year-old leg-spinner Ish Sodhi nearly had a wicket in his first over on ODI debut, but he, too, would suffer as the Zimbabwean batsmen settled in and took advantage of fielding mishaps.

Openers Hamilton Masakadza (84 off 99 balls) and Chamu Chibhabha (42 off 48 balls) gave the home team a good start, before Craig Ervine played a glorious innings, taking over the proceedings of the match.

After taking 89 balls to score his first 50, Taylor accelerated to a 15th ODI ton, one short of the national record held by Nathan Astle. He struck 11 fours and five sixes. The South Africans have achieved their marks in 35 innings, the New Zealanders in 38.

So an early banana skin for New Zealand as their undermanned squad begin their African trip.

World No. 3 New Zealand were without new ball spearheads Trent Boult and Tim Southee and they struggled to make an impact on the flat surface.

This was the primary recreation in a collection of three ODI matches between Zimbabwe and New Zealand at Harare Sports Club.

Taylor’s 1041 runs this year is the second-most by any player in the world this year, behind team-mate Kane Williamson’s 1134.

As New Zealand captain, in 10 ODIs, Williamson has hit 588 runs at 65.6, dwarfing his overall average of 48.16 in 80 games.

Craig Ervine then combined with Masakadza for a pivotal 120-run partnership for the second wicket which helped steer the hosts to their thrilling last-over win, and had the locals dancing on the bleachers. “Hopefully we can bounce back in the next game”.

Being put to bat first, New Zealand posted what may have been a promising total of 303 for 4 against the underdogs in their allotted 50 overs. “It wasn’t easy up front and I thought it was a good effort”, he said.

The second of the three ODIs is at the same venue starting on Tuesday night.