Vanuatu women’s cricket team upset their Zimbabwean counterparts by beating them by six wickets on the opening day of the Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier.
Vanuatu are ranked 30th and their win over Zimbabwe, ranked 12th, will remain a huge success story as the team is appearing for the first time in the World Cup qualifying tournament.
The women’s team is the first-ever team – men’s or women’s – to represent Vanuatu, an island nation having a population of as small as 300,000, in a World Cup Qualifier.
Vanuatu’s slower bowlers were excellent as they bowled Zimbabwe out for a mere 61 and then the batters chased 62 down with six wickets in hand.
Vanuatu’s journey will remain one of the most inspiring stories of the game. They were supposed to travel to the UAE with borrowed gear but their operations manager and marketing manager launched a crowdfunding campaign. They managed to raise around USD 6,000 and the money helped players have their own kits and equipment.
