Scots shock Zimbabwe in homecoming
SCOTLAND enjoyed a brilliant homecoming to stun Zimbabwe in a thriller at the Grange. In the Saltires’ first game on home soil since August 2019, they knocked over their Test-playing opponents in the opening T20 of the three-game series. The Scots had won the toss and chose to bat first, with Richie Berrington making 82 from 61 balls. Their total of 141 looked to be short of what was required but some fine bowling — from Safyaan Sharif in particular — left Zimbabwe up against it. Needing 14 runs from the final over, Sharif mopped up the tail to seal a famous win by seven runs. The teams will do it all again tomorrow. Meanwhile, Michael Holding, one of the most respected and recognisable voices in cricket, is to retire after a broadcasting career just as distinguished as a playing one that saw him become one of the greatest of all fast bowlers. Holding, 67, spent more than 20 years bringing his forthright views and expert analysis to Sky Sports and has now decided to go out at the top to spend more time with his family at home in the Cayman Islands. He bows out having made an even bigger impact away from the field over the last two years, through an emotional broadcast on Sky on the Black Lives Matter movement and with his extraordinary book Why We Kneel, How We Rise. Whispering Death, as Holding became known, retired in 1987 with 391 international wickets, before turning his hand to broadcasting where his rich, distinctive voice made him one of the leading figures in commentary boxes around the world.