Zimbabwe rout Namibia

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February 10, 2003 21:59 IST

Zimbabwe, boosted earlier by Craig Wishart's commanding 172 not out, won thier rain-shortened World Cup Group A match against Namibia by 86 runs on Monday.

Facing a reduced victory target of 325 in 46 overs, Namibia had slipped from a flying start to 104 for five when rain intervened after 25.1 overs, still 86 runs behind on the Duckworth/Lewis scoring method for interrupted games.

Former captain Danie Keulder was Namibia's top scorer, striking three fours in his 27 before he was brilliantly caught off a full-blooded cover drive by a leaping Dion Ebrahim.

The tournament minnows, playing in their first World Cup, won the toss but could do very little to stem the flow of runs as Zimbabwe piled up an imposing 340 for two in their 50 overs.

Opener Wishart narrowly missed out on the highest individual World Cup score as Zimbabwe cashed in on a good batting pitch and an inexperienced Namibia attack.

Wishart's 172 was the highest total by a Zimbabwe batsman in one-day internationals but fell short of Gary Kirsten's 188 not out for South Africa against the United Arab Emirates in the 1996 World Cup. Grant Flower finished unbeaten on 78.

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