Zimbabwe was honored with the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award 2023 for its sportsmanship during the Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier. Zimbabwe showed sportsmanship as they consoled West Indies star Akeal Hosein, who was devastated when the Maroon Men missed out on ODI World Cup qualification.
The West Indies had a disappointing performance in the competition, finishing fifth in the table with just one win in five games during the ‘Super Six’ stage. They achieved a victory against Oman, but suffered defeats against Sri Lanka, Scotland, the Netherlands and Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe also failed to secure a place in the ODI World Cup held in India, finishing third in the table with six points. Despite having the same points as the Netherlands and Scotland, Zimbabwe failed to qualify due to their lower Net Run Rate (NRR).
The International Cricket Council (ICC) took to
“Consoling the opposition This touching moment from the Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier wins the ICC Spirit of Cricket award for 2023,” the legend wrote.
Consoling the opposition 🫶
This touching moment from the Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier wins ICC Spirit of Cricket award for 2023.https://t.co/I8ie5Vgs8s
– ICC (@ICC) January 25, 2024
Zimbabwe beat West Indies by 35 runs in World Cup qualifiers
Zimbabwe and the West Indies met in the 13th match of the World Cup qualifiers in Harare on June 24, 2023. The Zimbabwe team emerged winners by defeating the rival by 35 runs. Windies team fell short in the chase of 269 runs during the match
The West Indies won the toss and elected to bowl first in the match. Joylord Gumbie and Craig Ervine added a 63-run partnership for the first wicket. However, the Windies bowlers bounced back, picking wickets at regular intervals and restricting the opposition to 112/4.
Sikandar Raza (68) and Ryan Burl (50) steadied the innings adding an 87-run partnership for the fifth wicket. However, they faced a collapse, resulting in a score of 243/9. Tendai Chatara and Blessing Muzarabani added crucial 25 runs for the last wickets of the innings.
West Indies lost their wickets of Brendon King (20) and Johnson Charles (1) inside the first powerplay. However, all-rounder Kyle Mayers smashed a half-century, scoring 56 runs off 72 deliveries with the help of eight boundaries and a six during the run chase.
Shai Hope (30 off 39), Nicholas Pooran (34 off 36) and Roston Chase (44 off 53) made contributions in the middle order but none of them managed to convert it into a big score. The team was bowled out for 233 runs, with Alzarri Joseph dismissed in the 45th over.
This spirit is described in the preamble to the Laws of Cricket: “Cricket is a game which owes much of its unique appeal to the fact that it must be played not only within its laws but also within the spirit of the game. “Any action deemed to abuse this spirit causes harm to the game itself.”
The preamble goes on to say: “The spirit of the game involves respect for:
Your opponents Your own captain and team The role of referees The traditional values of the game
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