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During the Zimbabwe vs Australia 3rd ODI match at the Harare Sports Club, Harare, the home side won the toss and opted to bat as Craig Ervine etched a new record in his name after scoring a fifty while batting first in the match. He surpassed some of the great batters in the world to achieve the rare milestone.
Australia have already won the three-match ODI series against the Chevrons after winning the first two matches comfortably. The Aussies had their practice in Zimbabwe ahead of the ODI World Cup next year, in which the Chevrons are the co-host alongside South Africa and Namibia. This series is a warm-up; the Aussies next face South Africa for ODIs and Tests.
Craig Ervine, after reaching his fifty in the third match, became the oldest batter to score 50-plus runs in a full member ODI series. He achieved the milestone at the age of 41 years and 32 days, surpassing the previous record of Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi, who did it against Bangladesh last year in Abu Dhabi at the age of 40 years and 286 days.
Craig Ervine achieves new milestone
Craig Ervine has been amazing in this series, as this was his second fifty of the series, and he is also the batter with the third most fifties after turning 40, with two fifties to his name and just below former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd (3) and Misbah-ul-Haq (5). The Zimbabwe cricketer would tie with former Windies captain if he scores another fifty in the next series.
Oldest batters to score 50+ in an ODI (FM teams)
41y 32d - Craig Ervine vs AUS, Harare, 2026*
40y 149d- Sikandar Raza vs AUS, Harare, 2026*
40y 286d - Mohd. Nabi (AFG) vs BAN, Abu Dhabi, 2025
40y 283d - Misbah-ul-Haq (PAK) vs SA, Auckland, 2015
40y 226d - Geoffrey Boycott (ENG) vs AUS, Lord’s, 1981
40y 155d - Clive Lloyd (WI) vs SL, WACA, 1985
Most 50+ scores after turning 40 in ODIs (FM teams)
5 - Misbah-ul-Haq
3 - Clive Lloyd
2 - Craig Ervine
Craig Ervine and Sikandar Raza were brilliant against Australia
Ervine scored 59 off 60 deliveries in the first match, smashing six fours and one six in the second match; he played a knock of 39 runs, and in the third and final ODI, he turned up big with the bat in the middle order, scoring 59 runs once again off 79 deliveries and smacking five boundaries.
The Ervine-Raza partnership has been a constant for this series, producing crucial runs across their three innings together. Their stands have been crucial to get Zimbabwe to a decent total in the first match; it was 98 runs. In the second, it did not turn out well, stitching 28 runs, and in this match they yet again stitched 61 runs between them.
Zimbabwe eyes for a fighting total
In the third ODI, yet another record was made by the Chevrons batters as, for the first time, three Zimbabwe batters have scored 50-plus in the same ODI innings against Australia. This milestone was achieved after their skipper Sikandar Raza scored a fifty.
The other two are Innocent Kaia (55) and Ervine (59), who have scored fifties in this match. Raza has been unbeaten at the moment with a score of 69 runs as they go past the 250-run mark with just 8 balls to spare to end the first innings.
