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Zimbabwe only arrived in Trinidad & Tobago a little over a day ago, but they were already in action today in their opening tour match against the University of the West Indies Vice-Chancellor's XI. With Brendan Taylor a late arrival due to problems with his visa paperwork and spin trio of Price, Cremer and Utseya left on the sidelines, it was definitely a weakened side that took the field for Zimbabweans, and this was reflected in the result, which as far closer than it may otherwise have been. Zimbabweans won the toss and opted to bat, and it was the usual story of one or two good performances carrying the side - in this case, Tatenda Taibu's impressive 107, with captain for the day Hamilton Masakadza coming a distant second on 38 while the rest of the side failed to fire - while at one point the side looked poised to break 300, with none of the bottom five in the batting lineup reaching double figures it all went a bit sour, and the side were bowled out for 281.

Zim's bowling for this match was heavily biased towards the pacemen, and Chris Mpofu took two wicket early in the UWI innings to give Zim the advantage. The 3rd-wicket partnership of Kraigg Brathwaite (80) and Nekoli Parris (73) threatened to see Zimbabwe's tour off to the worst possible start, though, as the pair made a determined effort to chase down the total that they'd been set. The partnership was broken when Parris departed with the score on 3/175, and from there regular wickets saw the momentum shift back in the Zimbabweans' way. The end was painfully close, though, with 9th man Ruel Brathwaite needing a six off the final ball of the innings to secure the win for his side - only to see the ball go past to the keeper, giving Zimbabweans the win by a meagre 5 runs. Chris Mpofu, Kyle Jarvis and Elton Chigumbura took two wickets apiece, although with Mpofu being rather expensive on the day he may be the one who fails to make the cut for the T20 side on Sunday. Full scorecard below the cut.
Zimbabweans 281 (49.2 overs; Taibu 107, Parris 2/40), UWI VC XI 276/8 (50 overs; Brathwaite 80, Chigumbura 2/27). Zimbabweans win by 5 runs.

Zimbabweans innings (50 overs maximum)	
						R	
V Sibanda	c Hutchinson b RMR Brathwaite	27	
H Masakadza*	c Stoute b Penco		38	
CK Coventry	c †Dowrich b Griffith		23	
T Taibu†	run out				107	
S Matsikenyeri	b Cariah			23	
GA Lamb		lbw b Cariah			16	
E Chigumbura	run out				5	
T Maruma	run out				5	
SW Masakadza	c Cariah b Parris		9	
KM Jarvis	c †Dowrich b Parris		6	
CB Mpofu	not out				6	
	Extras	(lb 4, w 10, nb 2)		16	
	Total	(all out; 49.2 overs)		281	(5.69 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-39, 2-85, 3-107, 4-175, 5-201, 6-219, 7-226, 8-253, 9-275, 10-281

Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ		
RMR Brathwaite	8	1	36	1	4.50	(1nb, 2w)	
B Hutchinson	4	0	25	0	6.25	(3w)	
KA Stoute	8	0	53	0	6.62	(1nb, 1w)	
J Griffith	10	0	55	1	5.50	(2w)	
S Penco		5	0	25	1	5.00		
Y Cariah	10	0	43	2	4.30		
N Parris	4.2	0	40	2	9.23	(2w)	


UWI Vice Chancellor's XI innings (target: 282 runs from 50 overs)	
						R	
KC Brathwaite	c †Taibu b SW Masakadza		80	
S Jackson*	lbw b Mpofu			1	
A D'Anadrade	c Lamb b Mpofu			10	
N Parris	c Matsikenyeri b Jarvis		73	
KA Stoute	b Maruma			5	
J Griffith	c Sibanda b Jarvis		14	
Y Cariah	c Matsikenyeri b Chigumbura	24	
SO Dowrich†	c Sibanda b Chigumbura		23	
S Penco		not out				4	
RMR Brathwaite	not out				13	
	Extras	(lb 7, w 10, nb 12)		29	
	Total	(8 wickets; 50 overs)		276	(5.52 runs per over)

Did not bat: B Hutchinson

Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-39, 3-175, 4-195, 5-203, 6-217, 7-257, 8-257

Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ		
CB Mpofu	9	0	65	2	7.22	(1nb, 4w)	
SW Masakadza	9	0	37	1	4.11	(4nb, 2w)	
KM Jarvis	10	0	54	2	5.40	(6nb)	
E Chigumbura	7	0	27	2	3.85	(1w)	
H Masakadza	4	0	15	0	3.75		
T Maruma	7	0	51	1	7.28	(2w)	
GA Lamb		4	0	20	0	5.00