An all-round team performance ensured Zimbabwe clinched a three-wicket win via the DLS Method to close out a 4-0 series whitewash here on Tuesday. Choosing to bat first, UAE were well placed at 91 for 2 in the 25th over with Chirag Suri on 46, but the former Gujarat Lions squad member fell leg before to Sikandar Raza for 46 and the rest of the UAE line-up struggled to capitalise on the platform he had built. Kyle Jarvis had been productive with the new ball through the first three matches and on this occasion he chipped in with a crucial double-strike in the 37th over. Ex-captain and opening batsman Rohan Mustafa was bumped down the order to make room for Suri and help insulate a weak tail. While Suri benefited from the move, Mustafa’s form drought in Zimbabwe continued when Jarvis nabbed him for just 1, ending his series with 20 runs in four innings. Jarvis struck next ball to claim Imran Haider edging behind for a golden duck to make it 139 for 7.
CP Rizwan had been at the other end with Suri during a 38-run third-wicket stand, but could not find a reliable partner while trying to stretch out the innings. He made 45 at No. 4 before he was last man out in the 48th over, run out by Raza who denied him a second run with a direct hit from the third man boundary as UAE ended on 175. Zimbabwe were cruising at 37 for 0 in the seventh over of the chase when rain interrupted play for two hours, resulting in a revised target of 128 off 30 overs. Captain Mohammad Naveed dismissed both openers in his first two overs after play resumed, including Regis Chakabva for 28 to make it 49 for 2.
Another flurry of three wickets in four balls fell across the 17th and 18th overs as Zahoor Khan had Craig Ervine edging behind before Mustafa bowled Sean Williams and Peter Moor to give Zimbabwe a brief scare at 79 for 5. It could have been 80 for 6 had Naveed held onto a chance in the 19th off Zahoor when Timycen Maruma was on 0, but the captain grassed the chance running back from mid-off. Maruma compounded the error clubbing two fours and a six off Mustafa in the 20th, bringing the equation down to a very manageable 31 off 62 balls.
Maruma hit another four and six off Haider’s legspin in the 21st before Shaiman Anwar claimed him with his part-time spin in the 23rd for a top score of 35 off 22 balls. Zimbabwe needed just 10 off the last seven overs, and despite a runout to start the 25th, which resulted in Ryan Burn walking off for 1, Jarvis and Raza struck a pair of boundaries off Shaiman to clinch victory with 31 balls to spare.