Archive · 20 Sep 2026
Australia Complete ODI Sweep After Dramatic One-Wicket Victory
Australia and Zimbabwe played their third one-day cricket match in Harare.
Zimbabwe batted first and scored 271 runs.
Sikandar Raza helped them with an unbeaten 81.
Australia needed 272 runs to win.
Josh Inglis scored 103 and kept Australia’s chase going.
Zimbabwe took many Australian wickets and came close to winning.
Nathan Ellis then scored 36 not-out and hit an important six in the final over.
Ellis and Spencer Johnson scored the last 27 runs with one ball left.
Australia won by one wicket and swept the series 3-0.
Australia defeated Zimbabwe by one wicket with one ball remaining in Harare.
Josh Inglis scored 103 from 102 balls, including 11 fours, in Australia’s chase.
Zimbabwe made 271/8 after Sikandar Raza’s unbeaten 81 and half-centuries from Craig Ervine and Innocent Kaia.
Nathan Ellis scored an unbeaten 36, including a crucial final-over six, while Spencer Johnson made seven.
Brad Evans took 4/47, but Australia reached 272/9 to complete a 3-0 series sweep.
- Who
- Australia and Zimbabwe, with Josh Inglis and Nathan Ellis leading Australia’s chase and Sikandar Raza starring for Zimbabwe.
- What
- Australia defeated Zimbabwe by one wicket and completed a 3-0 ODI series sweep.
- When
- Sunday, September 20.
- Where
- Harare Sports Club in Harare.
- Why
- Australia chased Zimbabwe’s target of 272 runs, surviving a late Zimbabwe fightback to win with one ball remaining.
Zimbabwe’s Perspective
Australia’s Perspective
Who deserved the win?
Zimbabwe’s Perspective
Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza said his team was proud of its performance, and Australia captain Mitchell Marsh acknowledged that Zimbabwe probably deserved to win.
Australia’s Perspective
Australia held its nerve during the final partnership and completed the chase despite losing nine wickets.
Late-match opportunity
Zimbabwe’s Perspective
Zimbabwe missed a major chance when Wessly Madhevere dropped Ellis in the penultimate over and then conceded nine runs in the final over.
Australia’s Perspective
Ellis capitalized on the opportunity by hitting a six and scoring the runs Australia needed.
Assessment of Zimbabwe’s total
Zimbabwe’s Perspective
Raza said Zimbabwe’s 271/8 made for a competitive match and expressed pride in the team’s batting effort.
Australia’s Perspective
Australia’s batting effort, led by Inglis’s century and Ellis’s late cameo, was enough to reach the target.
- Match result
- Australia won by one wicket with one ball to spare.
- Australia score
- 272/9.
- Zimbabwe score
- 271/8 in 50 overs.
- Top Australian scorer
- Josh Inglis scored 103 from 102 balls.
- Late Australian contribution
- Nathan Ellis made an unbeaten 36 from 44 balls and hit a final-over six.
- Zimbabwe batting leaders
- Sikandar Raza scored an unbeaten 81; Craig Ervine made 59 and Innocent Kaia made 55.
- Series result
- Australia won the ODI series 3-0 after earlier victories by 59 and 84 runs.
