WC Qualifier: Zimbabwe Record Second-Biggest ODI Victory, Beat USA By 304 Runs

Sean Williams' majestic 174 and Zimbabwe's all-round dominance secured a crushing win of 304 runs over the USA in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers 2023 here at Harare Sports Club on Monday.

Sean Williams's put up a majestic display of batting as he slammed 174 from 101, guiding the tournament hosts to a total in excess of 400. Chasing a target of 409 runs, USA got off to a struggling start as they lost their opening batter in the second over of the game.

In Harare, the United States were bowled out for 104 while chasing a mammoth score of 409 runs set by Zimbabwe. By run differential, this was the team's second-largest win. The United States crumbled in the face of Zimbabwe's massive total. Richard Ngrava struck first, catching Steven Taylor (0) behind in the third over. He got Sushant Modani (6) to nick one behind the wicket in his very next over. The USA were in trouble after skipper Monank Patel was out in the sixth over to Brad Evans.

In the space of nine deliveries, Aaron Jones and Shayan Jahangir were run-outs while Gajanand Singh was caught lbw by Raza, compounding the North American side's woes. At 45/6, it appeared like the USA would submit before even facing half of their allocated overs.

Highest total for Zimbabwe 
Second biggest margin of victory in ODI history 

Utter domination by the hosts against USA in the #CWC23 Qualifier https://t.co/57YqnMFQiH

— ICC (@ICC) June 26, 2023

They were almost halfway through the innings thanks to some brave batting from Abhishek Paradkar (24) and Jessy Singh (21). That didn't stop the North American team from suffering one of the biggest defeats in ODI cricket.

Earlier, Williams's 174 guided the tournament hosts to a total of 408. USA won the toss and opted to bowl first. Joylord Gumbie, together with his new companion at the helm, got the African side off to a strong start. Gumbie and Innocent Kaia combined for 56 runs for the first wicket. Kaia was finally defeated by Jessy Singh while attempting a loft in the midwicket zone. However, this brought Sean Williams to the crease, where he performed admirably against the USA. He struck 6,4,4 off Nisarg Patel's bowling in the 15th over.

In his stand with Gumbie, the southpaw seized the lead and hit his half-century in just 33 balls. On his path to this milestone, he hits seven fours and two sixes.
Williams batted aggressively throughout the innings, scoring 74 runs in overs 26-35. He brought up his century off merely 65-balls. This was the second-fastest ODI ton for Zimbabwe.

Despite losing Gumbie, Zimbabwe's aggressiveness maintained them ahead of the game. Sikandar Raza, Zimbabwe's outstanding performance in the Qualifier, backed him up. They combined for a fifty-run stand in just 27 balls.

By the time Raza was out for 48, the tournament hosts had passed 300 runs in the 43rd over. Ryan Burl then added to Zimbabwe's lead with a quickfire 47 off 16 balls. In the 49th over, Williams was out for 174.

Brief score: Zimbabwe 408/6 (Sean Williams 174, Ryan Burl 47; Abhishek Paradkar 3-78) vs USA 104 (Abhishek Paradkar 24, Jasdeep Singh 21; Sikandar Raza 2-15).