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Zimbabwe XI took revenge for the drubbing they received from Netherlands in their one-day fixture with a comprehensive 137-run victory in the far more important Intercontinental Cup meeting between the two sides. It's a result that, an hour after the match started on Sunday, looked unlikely - after winning the toss and opting to bat, Zim's openers slumped to a dire 3/8 in 3 overs, leaving them with a mountain to climb, but climb it they did, with a lot of help from Craig Ervine. Coming in at number five, the younger Ervine put down roots and, initially with Stuart Matsikenyeri (44) and later with Regis Chakabva (34), built the foundations for what eventually turned out to be a decent first-innings score. Ervine was eventually out for a career-best 145, as Zimbabwe XI reached 298 before being bowled out. Berend Westdijk, responsible for the early carnage, went on to be the best of the Deutch bowlers, taking 4/46.

The Dutch batting fortunately turned out to be even flakier than the Zimbabwean. Once again it fell to three players to form the groundings of their innings, but Wesley Barresi (81), Pietar Seelar (40*) and Ruud Nijman (23) received virtually no support from their compatriots - none of them reaching double figures - as the Dutch were bowled out for 186, handing Zimbabwe XI the first-innings points and a lead of 112.

That gave Zimbabwe a chance to build an unassailable second-innings lead, a chance that for once they didn't squander. Four of the visitors passed 50 - Vusi Sibanda's 88 led the scoring and Matsikenyeri (68) was again in the runs, while Ervine (59) and Chakabva (54) took the lead past 400 before Sibanda declared with the score on 305/5, setting the Dutch a target of 418 to win the day - or batting for a day and a half to force a draw.

Neither of those outcomes ever really looked likely, although to their credit the Dutch didn't give-up without a fight. Eric Szwarczynski led the fight with a composed 81, while Seelar (81) kept the tail wagging for long enough to perhaps cause a few nerves amongst the Zimbabweans. The home side only managed to reach 280, though (with Ruud Nijman unable to bat due to a broken hand), leaving Zimbabwe XI with a clear win and the maximum 20 tournament points from the match.

Zimbabwe XI now move on to Canada for their next fixture. After this performance, you would have to consider them favourites to secure another win. Full scorecard below the cut.
Zimbabwe XI 298 (89 overs; Ervine 145, Westdijk 4/46) & 305/5 decl (70.3 overs; Sibanda 88, Jonkman 2/63), Netherlands 186 (75.5 overs; Barresi 81, Mushangwe 3/47) & 280 (94 overs; Seelar 81*, Maruma 3/44). Zimbabwe XI win by 137 runs.

Zimbabwe XI 1st innings	
						R	B	4s	6s	SR	
S Matsikenyeri	lbw b Loots			44	89	5	0	49.43	
CJ Chibhabha	c de Grooth b Westdijk		1	3	0	0	33.33	
T Maruma	b Westdijk			4	3	1	0	133.33	
V Sibanda*	c Statham b Westdijk		0	1	0	0	0.00	
CR Ervine	lbw b Westdijk			145	238	13	0	60.92	
CK Coventry	b Loots				17	20	3	0	85.00	
EC Rainsford	c Szwarczynski b Jonkman	20	85	1	0	23.52	
RW Chakabva†	not out				34	77	3	0	44.15	
SW Masakadza	lbw b Borren			0	6	0	0	0.00	
N Waller	c †Barresi b Borren		0	3	0	0	0.00	
N Mushangwe	lbw b Borren			11	11	1	0	100.00	
	Extras	(b 12, lb 3, w 3, nb 4)		22					
	Total	(all out; 89 overs)		298	(3.34 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Chibhabha, 2.2 ov), 2-7 (Maruma, 2.5 ov), 3-8 (Sibanda, 2.6 ov), 
4-88 (Matsikenyeri, 27.1 ov), 5-114 (Coventry, 31.6 ov), 6-197 (Rainsford, 61.2 ov), 
7-272 (Ervine, 83.1 ov), 8-275 (Masakadza, 84.3 ov), 9-275 (Waller, 84.6 ov), 
10-298 (Mushangwe, 88.6 ov)

Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ		
BA Westdijk	13	3	46	4	3.53	(1w)	
RG Nijman	10	3	19	0	1.90		
MMA Jonkman	12	2	38	1	3.16	(1w)	
PW Borren	16	1	61	3	3.81	(2nb, 1w)	
BP Loots	16	4	48	2	3.00		
PM Seelaar	18	3	62	0	3.44		
ES Szwarczynski	4	1	9	0	2.25		


Netherlands 1st innings	
						R	B	4s	6s	SR	
ES Szwarczynski	b Mushangwe			4	13	0	0	30.76	
NA Statham*	run out (Rainsford)		0	0	0	0	-	
RG Nijman	lbw b Rainsford			23	102	1	0	22.54	
TN de Grooth	lbw b Rainsford			9	33	1	0	27.27	
PW Borren	b Waller			8	29	0	0	27.58	
W Barresi†	c Ervine b Waller		81	163	7	0	49.69	
WP Diepeveen	c Chibhabha b Mushangwe		5	16	1	0	31.25	
MMA Jonkman	c Sibanda b Maruma		4	12	0	0	33.33	
BP Loots	lbw b Maruma			5	17	0	0	29.41	
PM Seelaar	not out				40	68	3	0	58.82	
BA Westdijk	st †Chakabva b Mushangwe	0	3	0	0	0.00	
	Extras	(lb 4, w 2, nb 1)		7					
	Total	(all out; 75.5 overs)		186	(2.45 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Statham, 0.5 ov), 2-7 (Szwarczynski, 3.1 ov), 
3-24 (de Grooth, 14.4 ov), 4-40 (Borren, 23.6 ov), 5-65 (Nijman, 34.3 ov), 
6-73 (Diepeveen, 39.1 ov), 7-78 (Jonkman, 42.5 ov), 8-94 (Loots, 48.2 ov), 
9-185 (Barresi, 74.5 ov), 10-186 (Westdijk, 75.5 ov)

Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ		
EC Rainsford	19	6	37	2	1.94	(1nb, 1w)	
SW Masakadza	13	3	29	0	2.23	(1w)	
N Mushangwe	18.5	3	47	3	2.49		
T Maruma	12	2	29	2	2.41		
N Waller	8	3	16	2	2.00		
S Matsikenyeri	5	0	24	0	4.80		


Zimbabwe XI 2nd innings	
						R	B	4s	6s	SR	
S Matsikenyeri	b Jonkman			68	94	9	0	72.34	
CJ Chibhabha	lbw b Borren			15	33	3	0	45.45	
T Maruma	c †Barresi b Loots		2	15	0	0	13.33	
V Sibanda*	st †Barresi b Szwarczynski	88	150	12	1	58.66	
CK Coventry	c Westdijk b Jonkman		9	5	2	0	180.00	
CR Ervine	not out				59	95	4	1	62.10	
RW Chakabva†	not out				54	33	7	1	163.63	
	Extras	(b 7, lb 1, nb 2)		10					
	Total	(5 wickets dec; 70.3 overs)	305	(4.32 runs per over)

Did not bat: SW Masakadza, N Waller, EC Rainsford, N Mushangwe

Fall of wickets: 1-38 (Chibhabha, 11.3 ov), 2-48 (Maruma, 14.6 ov), 
3-119 (Matsikenyeri, 33.1 ov), 4-135 (Coventry, 35.4 ov), 5-219 (Sibanda, 60.2 ov)

Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ		
BA Westdijk	11	1	45	0	4.09		
PW Borren	7	1	25	1	3.57	(1nb)	
BP Loots	12	2	35	1	2.91		
PM Seelaar	12	0	56	0	4.66		
MMA Jonkman	13	1	63	2	4.84	(1nb)	
RG Nijman	10	2	27	0	2.70		
ES Szwarczynski	5	0	37	1	7.40		
TN de Grooth	0.3	0	9	0	18.00		


Netherlands 2nd innings (target: 418 runs)	
						R	B	4s	6s	SR	
ES Szwarczynski	lbw b Mushangwe			72	140	9	0	51.42	
NA Statham*	b Rainsford			3	12	0	0	25.00	
TN de Grooth	c †Chakabva b Masakadza		1	9	0	0	11.11	
W Barresi†	lbw b Rainsford			33	59	4	0	55.93	
WP Diepeveen	run out (Ervine)		20	24	3	0	83.33	
PM Seelaar	not out				81	162	9	0	50.00	
PW Borren	c Coventry b Maruma		38	80	4	0	47.50	
MMA Jonkman	c Sibanda b Maruma		9	25	1	0	36.00	
BP Loots	run out (Rainsford)		3	22	0	0	13.63	
BA Westdijk	lbw b Maruma			5	35	0	0	14.28	
RG Nijman	absent hurt			-					
	Extras	(lb 9, w 2, nb 4)		15					
	Total	(all out; 94 overs)		280	(2.97 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Statham, 4.4 ov), 2-14 (de Grooth, 7.2 ov), 3-81 (Barresi, 26.2 ov), 
4-109 (Diepeveen, 33.2 ov), 5-160 (Szwarczynski, 45.6 ov), 6-226 (Borren, 69.5 ov), 
7-239 (Jonkman, 75.5 ov), 8-260 (Loots, 83.4 ov), 9-280 (Westdijk, 93.6 ov)

Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ		
EC Rainsford	22	6	46	2	2.09	(1nb)	
SW Masakadza	23	3	52	1	2.26	(2w)	
N Mushangwe	24	0	98	1	4.08		
T Maruma	11	0	44	3	4.00	(3nb)	
N Waller	13	4	29	0	2.23		
V Sibanda	1	0	2	0	2.00