Zimbabwe, USA through to semis

Zimbabwe and the United States of America are the first teams to make it to the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier B semi-finals in Bulawayo after registering wins on Tuesday.

Zimbabwe beat a dogged Jersey side by 23 runs at Queens Sports Club, while the USA dismissed Singapore by 132 runs at Bulawayo Athletic Club.

The Chevrons were put in to bat by Jersey on a slow wicket. They lost skipper Craig Ervine with the penultimate delivery of the first over.

Regis Chakabva then had himself run out for the second match in a row, and with Wessly Madhevere failing to make runs again, Zimbabwe were now 37 for the loss of three wickets in 5.4 overs.

Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza stabilised the ship and the former scored his second consecutive half century, 57 to be exact, before he was bowled by Dominic Blampied attempting a sweep shot.

Wickets fell at regular intervals. It was the rearguard action from Luke Jongwe that took Zimbabwe to 146 for the loss of eight wickets. He smashed an unbeaten 29 off 13.

Elliot Miles returned two for 25 from his for overs.

Jersey had a decent powerplay, scoring 41 for the loss of one wicket, but after that a combination of Williams and Ryan Burl strangled them and completely dried up the boundaries for the eight overs they shared. That pushed the run rate up and piled pressure

Burl was three for 13 from his four overs, while Williams, though wicketless, conceded 15 runs in his allotment.

In the end, Jersey were limited to 123 for the loss of five wickets. Harrison Carlyon scored 45, while Benjamin Ward ended unbeaten on 35.

Over at BAC, the USA scored 201 for 6 when put in to bat. Steven Taylor and Jaskaran Malhotra both scored 58 while captain Monank Patel contributed with 39.

Amjad Mahboob took three for 54 and Akshay Puri two for 31.

Singapore never really got going and were bowled out for 69 in 15.2 overs, with Saurabh Netravalkar returning 5 for just 12 runs.

Zimbabwe and the USA now meet in the final group game on Thursday afternoon to decide who tops the group.

The worry for Zimbabwe might be an injury to top bowler Tendai Chatara who had to come off with an injury after falling awkwardly while fielding.

We will be providing wall-to-wall coverage of the tournament in partnership with Curesa Media and Astro Brands.

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