Zimbabwe vs Netherlands, 5th Match, Group A at Harare, CWC Qualifier, Jun 20 2023 - Ball by Ball Commentary

Thanks for your presence, folks. It's time for me, Rvel Zahid, to say goodbye on behalf of Madushka Balasuriya and our scoring master Sudeep Poojar

The perfect concoction for success: Raza, Williams and Ervine joined forces to feast on runs and went berserk against the hapless Netherlands' bowlers who were simply outgunned and in fact, bullied towards the end. They couldn't puncture Zimbabwe at regular intervals after posting a decent total on the board and were out of sorts with the ball. Raza mesmerized us with his power-hitting and proved to be the main protagonist of today's win with his allround heroics and his fireworks towards the end of the run-chase thoroughly entertained the crowd! I got goosebumps while watching the blitzkrieg in the last 10 overs or so from the quintessential all-rounder who has a knack for inspiring his team to do incredible stuff. The star of the show also became first Zimbabwe player with a century and a four-fer in the same ODI

Sikandar Raza, Player of the Match: "Listen as much as I am smiling, but the job is not done yet. We back ourselves, we had Pakistan A for six games and we chased 300 plus. I just wanted to go out there, the platform was already set, I just wanted to stay humble, and respect every ball but it was there, I went for it. As long as we win the game, we are happy and we are happy for each other's performance and support each other. Thankful for the wonderful support."

Craig Ervine, Zimbabwe Captain: "We were not particularly great with the ball again, but credit to Williams and Raza the way they just pretty much cantered through. The ball striking from them was phenomenal. It was a little bit of a tricky start but was a really good wicket. Once you get going, it is difficult to restrict. We wanted to restrict them to 290 to 300, but we finished the innings well. We were still happy with 315. It's tricky having so many options. Some times it makes it harder to make the decision. Raza bowled exceptionally well and our spinners have been the key for us in the middle overs."

Scott Edwards, Netherlands Captain: I thought we had ourselves in the game at 315. That is definitely enough to win the game but it's a good wicket. We dropped catches...they batted well. The conditions were different to what they were when we played here a couple of months ago. It was pretty good throughout the game. We had to bowl and field better. Raza is a serious batter. If their batters in the top order get going, they can be dangerous. We did not bowl our best and they capitalized. These tournaments come quick and fast, got to put (the loss) behind you. We have some positives (from this game). It's a long tournament."

Focus Reign: "Good win for Zimbabwe, but still their bowling and fielding performance is poor, they need to work on this. Netherlands not a bad team, but what a porous fielding "

Krishna: "Has to be one of the best all-round performances in ODI cricket. 4 wickets and a superfast century for Raza."

Syed: "hatsssssssss of to Mr. Raza the wall of ZIM Cricket pure talent good to see him batting in this aggression,"

Tsikire: "Brutal by Raza. At this rate I am sure if the target was 500 we could have easily surpassed it. Congratulations the Chevrons "

Ningen: "The crowd the the HSC is brilliant as usual....we deserve to make it to the world cup this time...counting on you Sikander!!" I couldn't agree more with you, it's stonking out there in the aisles and that adds to the festive vibe, makes cricket more fun for sure