Australia draw first blood against Zimbabwe

Matt Renshaw and Nathan Ellis did a fine job as Australia defeated Zimbabwe by 59 runs in their first ODI of the three-match series at Harare Sports Club Ground on Tuesday. Renshaw (109) blasted his maiden hundred to enable Australia to post 294-8 in the stipulated 50 overs. Renshaw hit seven fours and three sixes in his 109-ball knock. He added 72 runs for the fifth wicket stand with Alex Carey who belted 27 off 53 balls, striking one four. He then shared 75 runs for the sixth wicket association with Oliver Peake who struck a 40-ball 30 which featured one six and one four. Left-armer Newman Nyamhuri was the pick of the bowlers with 5-62 in nine overs. In response, Zimbabwe were folded for 235 in the 46th over with Craig Ervine top-scoring 59 off 60 balls.  He hammered six fours and one six in his solid knock and added 98 runs for the fifth wicket stand with skipper Sikandar Raza who chipped in with 76-ball 57, clobbering five fours. Wessly struck a 30-ball 22 with two fours while Brad Evans made 18 off 20 balls. Fast bowler Nathan Ellis bowled extremely well for Australia, pulling off his best figures of his career, finishing with 5-31 in 9.1 overs.   Scorecard Australia innings  Mitchell Marsh   c Brian Bennett b ‌Newman Nyamhuri       36  Travis Head      b Brad ⁠Evans                               4  Cooper ​Connolly  b Sikandar Raza                           51  Josh Inglis      c ​Brendan Taylor ‌b Newman Nyamhuri         4  Alex Carey       c (Sub) b ​Brad Evans                      27  Matt Renshaw     c Wessley Madhevere b Newman Nyamhuri    109  Ollie Peake      Hit Wicket b Newman ⁠Nyamhuri              30  Xavier Bartlett  c Craig Ervine b Newman Nyamhuri           5  Nathan ‌Ellis     Not Out                                    9  Adam Zampa       Not Out                                    3  Extras           0b 0lb 3nb 0pen 13w                       16  Total            (50.0 overs)                           294-8 Fall of Wickets : 1-10 Head, 2-60 Marsh, ⁠3-83 Inglis, 4-107 Connolly, ⁠5-179 Carey, 6-254 ​Peake, 7-269 ‌Bartlett, 8-288 Renshaw Did Not Bat : Johnson    Bowling               Ov  Md  Rn  Wk  Econ  Ex  Blessing Muzarabani   10   0  46   0  4.60  2w  Brad Evans             9   0  51   2  5.67  1w  Newman Nyamhuri        9   0  62   5  6.89  7w  Sikandar Raza         10   0  62   1  6.20  3w 3nb  Wessley Madhevere      3   0  18   0  6.00  Brian Bennett          3   0  19   0  6.33  Wellington Masakadza   6   0  36   0  6.00      Zimbabwe innings  Brian Bennett         c Josh Inglis b Nathan Ellis               25  Ben Curran            c Nathan Ellis b Xavier Bartlett            0  Innocent ⁠Kaia         c Alex Carey b Nathan Ellis                18  Brendan Taylor        c Xavier ⁠Bartlett b Matt Renshaw            4  Craig Ervine          b Nathan Ellis                                            59  Sikandar Raza         b Spencer Johnson                                57  Wessley Madhevere     lbw Cooper Connolly                         22  Brad Evans            c Spencer Johnson b Adam Zampa         18  Wellington Masakadza  lbw Nathan Ellis                               14  Newman Nyamhuri       b Nathan Ellis                                    1  Blessing Muzarabani   Not Out                                               0  Extras                0b 5lb 3nb 0pen 9w                                     17  Total                 (45.1 overs)                      235 ⁠all out Fall of Wickets : 1-1 ​Curran, 2-45 Kaia, 3-46 Bennett, 4-62 Taylor, 5-160 Ervine, 6-181 Butt, 7-199 Madhevere, 8-227 Masakadza, 9-235 Evans, 10-235 Nyamhuri    Bowling           Ov  Md  Rn  Wk  Econ  Ex  Spencer ​Johnson    9   0  44   1  4.89  1w 3nb  Xavier Bartlett    8   0  41   1  5.12  2w  Nathan Ellis     9.1   1  31   5  3.38  1w  Matt ‌Renshaw       4   0  32   1  8.00  Adam Zampa        10   0  55   1  5.50  1w  Cooper Connolly    4   0  23   1  5.75  Ollie Peake        1   0   4   0  4.00     Umpire         Alexander Wharf  Umpire         Langton Rusere  Video          Rashid Riaz  Match Referee  Andrew Pycroft Result: Australia won by 59 runs (Reuters)