Australia sweep Zimbabwe 3-0: Inglis 103 and a one-wicket win off the last over

Australia completed a 3-0 sweep in Harare on Sunday night, but only just. They got home by one wicket with one ball left, chasing 272, after Josh Inglis made 103 and Nathan Ellis finished it off from number nine.

How the last over happened

Zimbabwe had Australia 245 for 9 in the 46th over. Adam Zampa was the ninth man out, caught by Brian Bennett off Graeme Cremer, and that left Ellis with Spencer Johnson, a fast bowler who had faced 13 balls all series, for the last 27 runs.

They got them. Ellis finished 36 not out off 44 with two fours and a six, Johnson 7 not out off 13, and the winning run came off the 299th ball of the innings.

Sikandar Raza carried the innings and lost

Zimbabwe's 271 for 8 was built around their captain. Sikandar Raza, a name most Pakistani fans know from the PSL, was 81 not out off 72 with seven fours and a six, and he also took 2 for 44 with the ball. Craig Ervine made 59 off 79 and Innocent Kaia retired hurt on 55 off 66 with the score 148, a loss Zimbabwe felt in the last ten overs.

Nathan Ellis took 3 for 50, including a yorker that trapped Cremer plumb in front, and finished the match with bat and ball. Zampa and Johnson took two each.

The chase in numbers

Brad Evans was the reason it went to the last ball. He took 4 for 47 in ten overs, removing Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh inside the first four overs with Australia 25 for 2, then Alex Carey for 34 and Zampa at the death.

Inglis batted 164 minutes for his 103 off 102 balls with 11 fours, and was bowled by Raza in the 42nd over with Australia 227 for 8, still 45 short. That he did not see it through and Australia won anyway is the oddity of the night.

Series and what is next

Australia won the first ODI by 59 runs and the second by 84, so the sweep was settled before Sunday. Zimbabwe will take more from this defeat than from either of the other two.

Today's cricket for Pakistani viewers is elsewhere. The Asian Games women's bronze play-off, Pakistan against Bangladesh, is at 5am Pakistan time on Tuesday, and our Asian Games schedule page has the start times and where to watch.