Fast bowler Alzarri Joseph produced career-best figures as West Indies rebounded from Monday’s shock opening defeat to Scotland with a 31-run over Zimbabwe on Wednesday, to haul themselves back in contention for a place in the Super 12 of the Twenty20 World Cup.
Facing a must-win scenario in order to avoid an early exit from the tournament, West Indies gathered 153 for seven from their 20 overs with Johnson Charles top-scoring with 45 from 36 deliveries.
Alzarri Joseph then dismantled the Zimbabwe run chase in two separate spells, claiming four for 16 from his four overs and reducing the innings to 122 all out in the penultimate over.
Fast-bowling all-rounder Jason Holder was once again among the wickets, snatching three for 12 to follow up his three-wicket haul against the Scots.
Luke Jongwe, at number eight, top-scored with 29 from 22 balls while opener Wessly Madhevere struck 27 from 19 deliveries, but Zimbabwe lost their way quickly after a strong start.
At one point, they were galloping along at 47 for one in the fifth over before Joseph and Holder combined to trigger a collapse that saw nine wickets tumble for 75 runs.
Despite the positive result, West Indies will still need to beat Ireland in the final game on Friday in order to advance, with all four teams in Group B on two points from identical one-and-one records.
“After the start they got, you know T20 cricket in the power-play, the batsman has the upper hand because there are only two fielders out,” Joseph said afterward.
“I was just thinking of coming in, making an impact for the team, do something really special and win the game for the team.”
He continued: “After the last game, everyone got together, and we decided we had to put in a really big performance today because it was essentially a final. So, we know we had two finals to play to get through to the next round.”
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