It may have been a dead rubber game at the Gymkhana Ground in Nairobi, but with Zimbabwe being the only full member involved in qualifying for the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup they would still have been keen to show their class with another win, this time over tournament hosts Kenya.
Sikandar Raza won the toss and chose to bat first, and it was clear that Kenya's bowlers offered a stiffer challenge than Gambia's bowlers did during Zimbabwe's record-breaking total on Wednesday. The top three were all dispatched within the powerplay overs, with Dion Myers falling for a golden duck.
A 67 run fourth wicket partnership between Raza and Ryan Burl righted the Zimbabwean ship, with Burl carrying on after Raza's dismissal and reaching 61. Lucas Oluoch - who was on a hat-trick early on before Raza kept out the hat-trick ball - came back into the Kenyan attack and took two further wickets to finish with 4-37.
Ryan Burl during his innings (ICC Africa)
Zimbabwe's final total of 163-7 was the lowest of the four totals they made when batting first in the tournament, but it still proved to be enough. Kenya were unable to put together any partnership of note and were bowled out for 102 to lose by 61 runs. Trevor Gwandu and Sikandar Raza both took three wickets for the visitors.
In other matches yesterday, Mozambique beat Gambia by six wickets thanks to 76 from 50 balls by Francisco Couana and secured third place in the tournament. Gambia finished last without a win. Rwanda scored 146-9 against the Seychelles before restricting them to 73-9 and winning by 73 runs to finish in fourth place.
Zimbabwe and Kenya both progress to next year's African final qualifier, from which two teams will reach the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. The other teams involved in that tournament are 2024 World Cup participants Namibia and Uganda, plus Malawi and Tanzania from the first sub-regional event.
Two more teams will qualify from the final sub-regional event which takes place in Nigeria next month. The hosts will be joined by Botswana, Eswatini, Ivory Coast, Saint Helena and Sierra Leone.
