Watch: Sikandar Raza was involved in an angry exchange with Josh Little and Curtis Campher during Zimbabwe’s tense victory over Ireland in the first T20I in Harare yesterday (December 7).
Zimbabwe won the toss and were named first of the three T20Is. Ireland struggled, with none of their batsmen reaching 40 overs, with 147 wins and 8 losses after 20 overs.
Zimbabwe captain Raza took three wickets for 28 runs from four overs and was well supported by seamers Blessing Muzarabani (2-24) and Richard Ngaraba (2-23).
Zimbabwe lost two wickets early in the run chase. Raza was batting at number four with the score at 21-2 after 3.5 overs. He deftly mastered the run chase despite receiving little or no support from other batsmen.
In addition to five fours and two sixes, Raza’s strike also led to a fierce exchange with the Irish. After the fifth ball of the 13th over, bowled by left-arm seamer Josh Little, Raza got into an altercation with the bowler. When Little returned to his destination, he was joined by Curtis Campfer, who was playing as an infielder.
The Zimbabwe captain approached Camphor aggressively, making animated gestures with his bat and hands. The referee then had to force Raza to go back and take control of the situation.
Raza was eventually dismissed for 65 off 42 balls in 19 overs. He fell for the eighth wicket. With Zimbabwe needing two of his balls before the final ball,Ireland wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker fumbled the ball behind the goalposts and the hosts conceded his two byes. We were able to achieve a dramatic victory.
Watch Sikandar Raza have an animated exchange with Josh Little and Curtis Campher:
Raza vs Little & Campher#ZIMvsIRE pic.twitter.com/J57tCgQC4W
– Fantasy Cricket Pro 🏏 (Viren Hemrajani) (@FantasycricPro) 7. December 2023
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