Inglis, Ellis help Australia survive Zimbabwe scare
Nathan Ellis scored an unbeaten 36 to help Australia over the line with one wicket in hand, securing the win off the penultimate ball
Australia survived a real scare to win the third and final ODI against Zimbabwe by one wicket in Harare, completing a 3-0 series sweep. Josh Inglis set up the 272-run chase with a superb 103, but it was Nathan Ellis who saw Australia home in a tense finish with an unbeaten 36, adding to his three wickets earlier in the day.
The finish was as thrilling as it gets. Adam Zampa was the ninth man to fall with Australia still 27 short of the target, leaving Ellis with only Spencer Johnson for company. Zimbabwe sensed a famous win and would have been over the line had Wesley Madhevere, one of Zimbabwe's best fielders who had taken a stunner earlier in the day, not dropped Ellis in the penultimate over.
With Australia needing nine off the final over, Sikandar Raza handed the ball to Madhevere and Ellis latched onto the first ball, heaving it for a six over long-on to leave just 3 needed off 5. He got there two balls later with a single, sealing the win with a ball to spare.
Australia's chase had not always looked so precarious. Both openers fell inside the first four overs - Travis Head caught at deep square leg off Brad Evans for 6 and Mitchell Marsh holing out off the same bowler for 8 - but Cooper Connolly and Inglis steadied things with a stand of 52 for the third wicket. Connolly was bowled by Graeme Cremer's legbreak for 21, and Inglis then found his best ally in Alex Carey, the pair adding 85 for the fourth wicket to drag Australia past the halfway mark.
Carey made a brisk 34 before Evans returned to have him caught by Madhevere at backward point, and wickets began to fall around Inglis after that, with Matt Renshaw bowled by Madhevere, Oliver Peake lbw to Raza, Xavier Bartlett lbw to Cremer. Inglis kept going regardless, bringing up his century with a reverse sweep for four and going on to 103 off 102 balls before Raza, coming back for a second spell, bowled him attempting an inside-out drive. That wicket, with Australia 227 for 8, looked like it might be the difference. Evans then removed Zampa for his fourth wicket, but Ellis and Johnson held their nerve to get Australia over the line.
Zimbabwe's total of 271 for 8 earlier, also their second-highest total batting first against Australia in ODIs, had given them a real chance. Ben Curran and Brian Bennett fell cheaply inside the first nine overs, and Brendan Taylor added only 9 before Zimbabwe slipped to 68 for 3. Innocent Kaia and Craig Ervine then put together the innings' key partnership, adding 80 for the fourth wicket before Kaia, having reached a fifty of his own, retired hurt with a hamstring problem on 55.
Ervine went on with Raza instead, the pair adding 61 before Ervine fell for 59 to Adam Zampa, caught at long-on trying to go big. Raza was the one who kept finding the boundary through the middle and death overs, and he finished unbeaten on 81 off 72 balls. Ellis took 3 for 50, while Xavier Bartlett, with expensive figures 10-0-69-0, finished with the most costly figures by an Australian bowler in Zimbabwe.
Brief scores: Zimbabwe 271/8 in 50 overs (Sikandar Raza 81*, Craig Ervine 59, Innocent Kaia 55 ret hurt; Nathan Ellis 3-50) lost to Australia 272/9 in 49.5 overs (Josh Inglis 103, Nathan Ellis 36*; Brad Evans 4-47) by 1 wicket.
