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Zimbabwe XI trounced Canada by an innings and 73 runs, taking only three days to wrap up their Intercontinental Cup meeting with the North American side and in doing so claiming the largest winning margin of the tournament so far and maintaining their unbeaten record. The seeds of the victory were planted on day one when after winning the toss, Canada were put in to bat by Vusi Sibanda and promptly collapsed in a way that's normally associated with Zimbabwe - and I have to say it's nice to watch such collapses from the other side. Canada managed a poor 129 from their first innings, with Rizwan Cheema's unbeaten 46 being the pick of the bunch (and one of only three scores to reach double figures). Zimbabwe's bowlers produced a team effort, with Ed Rainsford and Tendai Chatara bagging three each and Shingi Masakadza and Timycen Maruma each bagging a pair.

Zimbabwe XI's first innings was for the most part a story of starts that didn't go on, but a stand-out knock of 177 by Craig Ervine - his second ton in two matches - helped push the side to 351 before he was finally stumped, the last wicket to fall. That Shingi Masakadza's 35 was the next-highest score underlines the continuing frailty of Zimbabwe's batting, though, and is a problem that remains to be addressed. Umar Bhatti took 6/98 for Canada, but despite his best efforts the home side were left with a mountain to climb even to make Zimbabwe bat again.

It was a mountain they failed to conquer, as Canada's second innings was barely better than the first. Hamza Tariq was the top-scorer this time around, scoring 39 before being run out, but a stellar performance from Shingi Masakadza (5/58) saw the home side bowled out for 149, well short of making Zimbabwe bat again, and that was all she wrote.

Full scorecard below the cut. Zimbabwe XI now move to second place in the tournament table, behind Scotland, who along with Ireland are our remaining opponents in the competition. Full scorecard below the cut.
Canada 129 (54.2 overs; Rizwan Cheema 46*, Chatara 3/21) & 149 (56.5 overs; Hamza Tariq 39, Masakadza 5/58), Zimbabwe XI 351 (97.1 overs; Ervine 177, Bhatti 6/98). Zimbabwe XI win by an innings and ?3 runs.

Canada 1st innings	
						R	B	4s	6s	SR	
H Patel			c Maruma b Masakadza	32	32	6	0	100.00	
TC Bastiampillai	c †Chakabva b Chatara	11	44	2	0	25.00	
NR Kumar		c Mutizwa b Rainsford	4	24	1	0	16.66	
S Jyoti			c †Chakabva b Chatara	2	10	0	0	20.00	
H Chattergoon		lbw b Rainsford		0	12	0	0	0.00	
Usman Limbada		lbw b Masakadza		5	34	1	0	14.70	
Rizwan Cheema*		not out			46	111	6	2	41.44	
Hamza Tariq†		lbw b Maruma		6	21	0	0	28.57	
U Bhatti		c Williams b Maruma	0	1	0	0	0.00	
H Osinde		lbw b Rainsford		9	37	1	0	24.32	
PA Desai		c Sibanda b Chatara	1	3	0	0	33.33	
	Extras	(b 2, lb 6, w 2, nb 3)		13					
	Total	(all out; 54.2 overs)		129	(2.37 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-45 (Patel, 9.5 ov), 2-51 (Bastiampillai, 14.3 ov), 3-57 (Jyoti, 16.6 ov), 
4-57 (Kumar, 19.1 ov), 5-59 (Chattergoon, 21.4 ov), 6-67 (Usman Limbada, 28.6 ov), 
7-92 (Hamza Tariq, 40.1 ov), 8-92 (Bhatti, 40.2 ov), 9-120 (Osinde, 53.2 ov), 
10-129 (Desai, 54.2 ov)

Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ		
EC Rainsford	20	9	45	3	2.25	(3nb)	
SW Masakadza	12	3	22	2	1.83		
TL Chatara	12.2	7	21	3	1.70	(2w)	
T Maruma	7	2	27	2	3.85		
KM Dabengwa	3	1	6	0	2.00		


Zimbabwe XI 1st innings	
						R	B	4s	6s	SR	
S Matsikenyeri	c Kumar b Bhatti		2	15	0	0	13.33	
KM Dabengwa	c †Hamza Tariq b Osinde		24	33	2	1	72.72	
SC Williams	c Chattergoon b Bhatti		5	18	0	0	27.77	
V Sibanda*	c Kumar b Bhatti		23	53	2	0	43.39	
CR Ervine	st †Hamza Tariq b Patel		177	284	16	3	62.32	
F Mutizwa	c †Hamza Tariq b Bhatti		11	11	1	1	100.00	
RW Chakabva†	lbw b Jyoti			23	38	5	0	60.52	
T Maruma	st †Hamza Tariq b Jyoti		16	48	0	0	33.33	
SW Masakadza	c Rizwan Cheema b Bhatti	35	66	5	0	53.03	
EC Rainsford	lbw b Bhatti			0	5	0	0	0.00	
TL Chatara	not out				5	20	1	0	25.00	
	Extras	(b 4, lb 6, w 12, nb 8)		30					
	Total	(all out; 97.1 overs)		351	(3.61 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Matsikenyeri, 3.3 ov), 2-11 (Williams, 7.6 ov), 3-36 (Dabengwa, 12.6 ov), 
4-88 (Sibanda, 27.1 ov), 5-105 (Mutizwa, 31.1 ov), 6-147 (Chakabva, 44.1 ov), 
7-194 (Maruma, 60.2 ov), 8-305 (Masakadza, 87.6 ov), 9-307 (Rainsford, 89.2 ov), 
10-351 (Ervine, 97.1 ov)

Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ		
H Osinde	25	3	92	1	3.68	(7nb, 6w)	
U Bhatti	28	3	98	6	3.50	(1nb)	
PA Desai	17	3	39	0	2.29		
H Patel		3.1	0	16	1	5.05		
Usman Limbada	1	0	5	0	5.00	(1w)	
S Jyoti		17	5	55	2	3.23		
NR Kumar	2	0	10	0	5.00	(1w)	
H Chattergoon	4	0	26	0	6.50	


Canada 2nd innings	
							R	B	4s	6s	SR	
H Patel			c †Chakabva b Masakadza		7	29	1	0	24.13	
TC Bastiampillai	c sub (CK Coventry) b Masakadza	26	84	6	0	30.95	
NR Kumar		c Mutizwa b Chatara		6	11	1	0	54.54	
S Jyoti	 		b Chatara			1	12	0	0	8.33	
H Chattergoon		c †Chakabva b Masakadza		19	49	3	0	38.77	
Usman Limbada		b Chatara			0	6	0	0	0.00	
Rizwan Cheema*		c †Chakabva b Masakadza		0	6	0	0	0.00	
Hamza Tariq†		run out (sub [CK Coventry])	39	81	4	1	48.14	
U Bhatti		b Maruma			16	35	1	0	45.71	
H Osinde		c Sibanda b Masakadza		12	28	0	0	42.85	
PA Desai		not out				0	6	0	0	0.00	
	Extras	(b 4, lb 9, w 4, nb 6)			23					
	Total	(all out; 56.5 overs)			149	(2.62 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-18 (Patel, 7.4 ov), 2-27 (Kumar, 10.4 ov), 3-29 (Jyoti, 14.3 ov), 
4-73 (Bastiampillai, 28.6 ov), 5-75 (Chattergoon, 30.3 ov), 6-75 (Usman Limbada, 31.5 ov), 
7-74 (Rizwan Cheema, 32.3 ov), 8-107 (Bhatti, 43.6 ov), 9-123 (Osinde, 52.5 ov), 
10-149 (Hamza Tariq, 56.5 ov)

Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ		
EC Rainsford	10.5	3	26	0	2.40	(1nb, 1w)	
SW Masakadza	22	5	58	5	2.63	(2nb, 1w)	
TL Chatara	11	5	18	3	1.63	(2w)	
KM Dabengwa	9	2	22	0	2.44		
T Maruma	4	0	12	1	3.00	(3nb)	
S Matsikenyeri	0	0	0	0	-	(2nb)