Sikandar Raza showcased a heartwarming gesture on Sunday (November 24) when he donated his Player of the Match (POTM) prize money to a young cancer survivor following Zimbabwe’s 80-run win (DLS) over Pakistan in the first game of the three-match ODI series at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.
Raza was adjudged the Player of the Match (POTM) for scoring 39 off 56 and then claiming figures of two for seven in three overs.
Raza won USD 300 as part of the Player of the Match award and he donated the entire amount to a teenage girl who was present at the venue for the occasion.
After being sent into bat, Zimbabwe started strongly as openers Joylord Gumbie and Tadiwanashe Marumani added 40 runs for the first wicket before Gumbie was run out by Abdullah Shafique.
Then Zimbabwe lost the wickets of Dion Myers and skipper Craig Ervine in clumps to cede the advantage. But just when it appeared that Pakistan were regaining control over the game, the hosts fought back with some handy contributions from their middle and lower-order batters.
Veterans Sean Williams (23 runs off 17 balls) and Sikandar Raza showed character alongside Brian Bennett (20 off 20 balls) but Pakistan were taken aback by a counterattacking innings from Richard Ngarava.
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Known for his pace bowling, Ngarava aggregated 48 runs off 52 deliveries, including five fours and a maximum. He was cleaned up by Mohammad Hasnain before he could reach a well-deserved fifty. Ngarava’s knock propelled Zimbabwe to 205 in 40.2 overs.
Pakistan’s chase never got going as the home team came back hard at them. Blessing Muzarabani was too hot to handle for Pakistan as he claimed two wickets in his five-over spell before Sean Williams (2/12) and Raza closed the doors down on tourists’ faces.
Pakistan were batting on 60 for the loss of six wickets when the rain interrupted the game and were miles behind their DLS target. The game couldn’t be resumed after the rain interruption and the Chevrons drew first blood in the series.
