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Zimbabwe in West Indies in 2006
	Zimbabwe	West Indies
Dates	29 April – 14 May 2006
Captains	Terry Duffin	Brian Lara
One Day International series
Results	West Indies won the 7-match series 5–0
Most runs	Justice Chibhabha (162)	Ramnaresh Sarwan (254)
Most wickets	Prosper Utseya (6)	Jerome Taylor (9)
Player of the series	Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI)

The 2006 international cricket season started with controversial ICC members Zimbabwe touring the West Indies for a series of seven One Day International matches. Because Zimbabwe recently pulled out of playing Test matches, the tour had to be rescheduled which meant the two Test matches were turned into limited overs games, bumping them up from the original five. After Zimbabwe's decision to leave Test cricket at the start of 2006, the West Indies Cricket Board had reconsidered the tour, but without any other team to play they had to appease both sponsors and fans. Although the teams lie next to each other in the ICC ODI Championship, West Indies holds 89 points in eighth place, 47 more than the tourists' 42 in ninth.

Schedule

Squads

One-Day Matches

First ODI (29 April)

Zimbabwe  151/9 (50 overs)	v	West Indies 154/5 (38.2 overs)
CJ Chibhabha 55 (99) JE Taylor 2/19 (10 overs)		BC Lara 40* (43) P Utseya 3/35 (10 overs)

• West Indies won the toss and elected to field.

Brian Lara's first match in his third spell as captain ended in victory, as Zimbabwe mustered 151 in their 50 overs, and four West Indian bowlers got two wickets each. Despite Runako Morton recording a duck, West Indies made it to the target with five wickets and 11.4 overs to spare, as Lara top scored with 40, the second highest total of the match. However, according to Cricinfo reporter Will Luke, West Indies "rarely looked in complete control". For Zimbabwe, Blessing Mahwire bowled seven overs and conceded 14 runs with six wides, while Prosper Utseya picked up a career best three for 35. In the first innings, Justice Chibhabha hit a half-century in his second ODI.

Second ODI (30 April)

West Indies  242/9 (50 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 144 (46.2 overs)
RR Sarwan 55 (61) T Mupariwa 3/46 (10 overs)		CJ Chibhabha 67 (100) JE Taylor 4/24 (10 overs)

• West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.

Despite another half-century from Justice Chibhabha, this time worth 12 runs more than in the first ODI, Zimbabwe's total of 144 was seven lower than in the first ODI. West Indies had batted first, making 242 for 9 after Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul all passed 40, while five Zimbabwean bowlers got at least one wicket each. Jerome Taylor then took four wickets as Zimbabwe fell for 144, with Elton Chigumbura (13) and Tawanda Mupariwa (16) joining Chibhabha with double figure scores.

Tour Match: Zimbabwe v University of West Indies Vice Chancellor's XI (3 May)

University of West Indies Vice Chancellor's XI won by 5 wickets

Piet Rinke hit 113 for the Zimbabweans in the 13-a-side match, and Brendan Taylor and Charles Coventry also took half-centuries. For the University of West Indies' XI, Ryan Hinds and Xavier Marshall, who had both played internationals for West Indies before, made scores of 117 not out and 54 respectively, and C. Walton anchored the chase with 67 as the hosts won with 23 balls to spare.

Third ODI (6 May)

West Indies	v	Zimbabwe

• No toss made.
• Match called off on the 5th May.

Fourth ODI (7 May)

West Indies  333/6 (50 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 251/7 (50 overs)
S Chanderpaul 93 (82) HP Rinke 1/30 (4 overs)		E Chigumbura 60 (59) FH Edwards 3/42 (10 overs)

• West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
• S Chattergoon (WI) made his ODI debut.

West Indies sealed at least a draw in the series after a convincing 82-run victory over Zimbabwe in Georgetown. The West Indies handed a debut to 25-year-old opener Sewnarine Chattergoon but he disappointed in front of his home crowd scoring only 9. But a few players did play a part in the massive total of 333/6 set by the West Indies. Shivnarine Chanderpaul top scored with 93 off 82 balls (7 fours & 4 sixes), and there were also half-centuries from Runako Morton (79 off 90) and captain Brian Lara (56 off 45). This set Zimbabwe an unlikely 334 target, and sure enough struggled. Fidel Edwards bowled Piet Rinke with the first ball of the innings, and also took the scalp of Zimbabwean captain Terry Duffin with the 4th ball of that over, leaving Zimbabwe at one run for two wickets, but steady knocks from Justice Chibhabha, Vusi Sibanda and Elton Chigumbura got the Zimbabweans past 100. But they weren't scoring quickly enough, and after their allotted 50 overs, came up 82 runs short, with Edwards the pick of the bowlers. This was also the last international match at the Bourda ground:

Fifth ODI (10 May)

Zimbabwe  152 (49.2 overs)	v	West Indies 156/0 (27.4 overs)
GM Strydom 48 (73) DJ Bravo 3/24 (9.2 overs)		C Gayle 95* (91)

• Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat.
• D Mohammed (WI) made his ODI debut.
• This was the first day-night ODI in the West Indies.

Sixth ODI (13 May)

West Indies  263/6 (50 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 72/2 (12.1 overs)
RS Morton 109 (149) RS Higgins 2/39 (10 overs)		BRM Taylor 20* (21) MN Samuels 1/31 (5 overs)

• West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
• Zimbabwe target was 191 runs in 30 overs.

Seventh ODI (14 May)

West Indies  266/8 (50 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 162 (49 overs)
RR Sarwan 91 (114) T Mupariwa 3/44 (10 overs)		BRM Taylor 43 (82) DR Smith 4/29 (8 overs)

• West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.

Notes

1. Zimbabwe Squad, list from Cricinfo Retrieved 13 April 2006
2. West Indies made to work hard, by Will Luke, published on Cricinfo on 29 April 2006
3. Tour Match, Zimbabwe v University of West Indies Archived 14 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine, scorecard from Cricinfo
4. Prospects brighter for Guyana's farewell, from Cricinfo, 7 May 2006

External sources

• CricketArchive – itinerary of events

Further reading

• Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

• 2006 in West Indian cricket
• International cricket competitions in 2006
• West Indian cricket seasons from 2000–01
• Zimbabwean cricket tours of the West Indies
• 2006 in Zimbabwean cricket