Masakadza, Taylor spur Zim past the Dutch

Zimbabwe kept themselves in contention for a spot in the main draw of the ICC World Twenty20 Championships, beating Netherlands by five wickets in a Group ‘B’ qualifying match here on Wednesday.

Chasing 141, the Zimbabweans overcame some hiccups to reach 146 for five in 20 overs to stay afloat in the competition after losing their opening match.Hamilton Masakadza (43 off 45 balls) and man of the match skipper Brendan Taylor (49 off 39 balls) were the stars of the chase after fall of wickets in quick succession caused some anxiety in the Zimbabwean camp.

For The Netherlands, Pieter Seelaar picked two for nine in his efficient two-over spell.Earlier, after electing bat first, The Netherlands’ top-order crumbled before Tom Cooper’s 58-ball 72 took them to a respectable total.

The Netherlands were reeling at 35 for four before Cooper came to their rescue, helped by some decent contributions from the lower-half of the line-up.Cooper combined with his brother Ben (20) to put together 52 runs for the fifth wicket which steadied the team’s innings.