Zim Women Off to a Flyer in Stellenbosch

Zimbabwe's women got off to a good start in the Women's World Cup Qualifiers, with a win against Scotland in their opening match. After winning the toss and electing to bat, Zim set a target of 147 - Scotland were able to bowl them out in 39 overs, but Yvonne Rainsford (37) and Precious Marange (22) set the foundations for what proved to be a winning score. For the Scots, Kathryn White took 2/5 from her 8 overs.

In reply, Scotland's biggest ally was Zimbabwe's wayward bowling - the African side conceded 22 runs through wides, outscoring the Scot's best batswoman (captain Fiona Urqhart, who scored 10) by over 2:1. That still left Scotland well short of the chase, and with Zim's bowlers taking wickets almost at will, it was soon all over - Scotland were bowled out for 72, with Yvonne Rainsford and Emily Jinjika both taking 2/7 from 6 overs.

An excellent start for Zimbabwe, then, and Julia Chibhabha's comments about reaching the final maybe don't look so far-fetched after all. Full scorecard for this match is below the cut - Zimbabwe's next match is against Pakistan, tomorrow (19th).
Zimbabwe 147 (39/50 overs; Rainsford 37, White 2/5), Scotland 72 (31.2 overs; Urqhart 10, Rainsford 2/7, Jinjika 2/7). Zimbabwe win by 75 runs.

Zimbabwe Women innings (50 overs maximum)
J Chibhabha 	run out (White) 	                9 
RC Chinyemba 	c Pedgrift b Aitken 	                2 
E Jinjika 	c Anderson b Farr 	                0 
S Kudzibatira 	c Aitken b Anderson 	                9 
YB Rainsford 	b Aitken 	                        37 
S Mpofu 	b White 	                        13 
N Nyathi 	lbw b Anderson 	                        6 
P Marange 	run out (White) 	                22 
SM Mayers 	c White b Aslam 	                12 
CS Mugeri 	not out 	                        5 
HS Saili 	lbw b White 	                        2 
    Extras 	(b 8, lb 1, w 17, nb 4) 	        30 
    Total 	(all out; 39 overs; 158 mins) 	        147 

Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Chibhabha, 5.2 ov), 2-17 (Chinyemba, 5.4 ov), 
3-19 (Jinjika, 6.6 ov), 4-32 (Kudzibatira, 9.4 ov), 5-80 (Mpofu, 22.2 ov), 
6-89 (Rainsford, 25.1 ov), 7-110 (Nyathi, 31.5 ov), 8-130 (Marange, 35.1 ov), 
9-142 (Mayers, 36.4 ov), 10-147 (Saili, 38.6 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
CA Farr 	9 	1 	20 	1 	2.22 	(1nb, 2w)
A Aitken 	8 	0 	38 	2 	4.75 	(3nb, 3w)
K Anderson 	8 	0 	27 	2 	3.37 	(4w)
K White 	8 	5 	5 	2 	0.62 	
FE Urquhart 	1 	0 	15 	0 	15.00 	(1w)
F Campbell 	2 	0 	14 	0 	7.00 	(4w)
S Aslam 	3 	0 	19 	1 	6.33 	(3w)


Scotland Women innings (target: 148 runs from 50 overs)
K White 	b Marange 	                        4 
CEM Smaill 	c Nyathi b Saili 	                4 
K Anderson 	lbw b Rainsford 	                9 
FE Urquhart 	c Nyathi b Rainsford 	                10 
CL Bascombe 	c Nyathi b Chibhabha 	                7 
CJ Sweetman 	c ? b Jinjika 	                        0 
D Pedgrift 	b Jinjika 	                        2 
S Aslam 	run out (Nyathi) 	                8 
CA Farr 	lbw b Mpofu 	                        5 
A Aitken 	c Chinyemba b Chibhabha 	        0 
F Campbell 	not out 	                        0 
    Extras 	(lb 2, w 20, nb 1) 	                23 
    Total 	(all out; 31.2 overs; 171 mins) 	72 

Fall of wickets: 1-11 (White, 2.5 ov), 2-19 (Smaill, 5.2 ov), 
3-37 (Anderson, 10.6 ov), 4-42 (Urquhart, 12.1 ov), 
5-55 (Sweetman, 21.3 ov), 6-55 (Bascombe, 22.3 ov), 
7-60 (Pedgrift, 25.2 ov), 8-72 (Aslam, 30.1 ov), 
9-72 (Aitken, 30.3 ov), 10-72 (Farr, 31.2 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
P Marange 	4 	0 	21 	1 	5.25 	(7w)
HS Saili 	7 	1 	17 	1 	2.42 	(2w)
J Chibhabha 	6 	1 	14 	2 	2.33 	(1w)
YB Rainsford 	6 	1 	7 	2 	1.16 	(3w)
E Jinjika 	6 	2 	7 	2 	1.16 	(1nb, 2w)
S Mpofu 	2.2 	0 	4 	1 	1.71