Chigumbura shines in Zimbabwe tour match

21 Sep, 2004

All rounder Elton Chigumbura hit 81 to lift Zimbabwe in their two-day match against a Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman XI on Monday.
The 18-year-old's fighting knock helped his side score 215 all out on the first day ahead of a tri-series one-day tournament, also involving Asian champions Sri Lanka.
PCB Chairman XI were 62-0 in eleven overs at close in the 90-over-a-side match. Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu's decision to bat first after winning the toss backfired when his side lost seven wickets for just 119 runs.
Chigumbura - who scored a half century and took three wickets in his team's narrow four-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka in the ICC (International Cricket Council) Champions Trophy in England last week - struck 14 boundaries and shared an 85-run eighth wicket stand with Tawanda Mupariwa who scored 26 not out.
Alestar Maregwede with 26 and Dion Ebrahim with 25 were the other notable contributors for the tourists. Lanky pacer Mohammad Irshad staked his claims for a place in the Pakistan squad with 4-56.
Irshad, who is a premier performer in Pakistan's first class cricket, is likely to earn a place in Pakistan team who will miss ace pacer Shabbir Ahmed.
Ahmed is ruled out of tri-series starting with a Pakistan-Zimbabwe match in Multan on September 30 due to knee injury.

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