Ellis' heroics seal Zimbabwe sweep home in one-wicket thriller

Nathan Ellis was the hero of an epic one-wicket win over Zimbabwe after Josh Inglis posted his third ODI century to help Australia clinch a 3-0 series sweep.

A packed Sunday Harare Sports Club was on the verge of pandemonium when the home side closed in on a third win over Australia in their last five games after Inglis was the last recognised batter dismissed with 45 runs still required.

But with two wickets in hand and visibility deteriorating rapidly with only three of the four light towers working, Ellis proceeded to flatten the expectant crowd in a match-winning 27-run 10th-wicket stand with No.11 Spencer Johnson (7no off 13).

That pair reduced the equation to 17 off the final two overs, then nine off the last six balls, when Ellis struck a towering six off the first ball of the final over, delivered by a crestfallen Wessly Madhevere.

So hard was the adrenaline pumping that after Ellis hit Madhevere over midwicket and completed the winning single with a ball to spare, he and Johnson scampered back for an unneeded second run.

"To do it for your country and with my mate Spence at the other end there, it was pretty cool," Ellis told cricket.com.au after walking off with 36no.

"It was just a matter of staying in there and taking it as deep as we can, which we managed to do.

"We probably let it get a little bit too close for our liking, but the way it shaped up with who had overs left, I thought if we could get through the quicks, I knew there was some spin to come. Thankfully it worked out.

"We spoke about sort of getting it to 15 off the last two (overs). It was probably a little bit more than I would have liked. But got the six off the first ball (of the last over) which relieved all the all the pressure.

"Then it was a matter of just backing 'Spon' to get down the other end with me. We ran two at the end, and we needed one, which the boys have given me a stick about."

It put the all-round brilliance of Sikandar Raza (81no off 72 and 2-42 off 10 overs, including the wicket of Inglis) in the shade, with Zimbabwe's captain instead left to wrap his arms around Madhevere, who had also dropped Ellis on the mid-wicket boundary in the penultimate over.

It came after a standout effort with the ball from Ellis as well. The right-arm quick took 3-50, taking his series tally to nine wickets at 12, and engineered a late collapse of 4-22 when a score of 300-plus beckoned for Zimbabwe.

Perhaps Raza's only mis-step of the match was his failure to bowl Graeme Cremer (2-53 from nine overs in his first ODI in eight years) his full allocation, particularly given the trouble the leg-spinner had caused Australia's tail.

After clean-bowling player-of-the-series Cooper Connoly, Cremer capped a rough day for Xavier Bartlett when he had him lbw, while another wrong'un was millimetres away from bowling Ellis on the No.9's first ball.

Instead it was left to Madhevere, who had put down another dropped catch off Inglis, on 48, when he mis-timed a jump attempting a catch off an Ernest Masuku slower ball.

He looked to have redeemed himself when he took a screamer at point to remove Alex Carey for 34, while also bowling Matthew Renshaw with a skidding off-break.

Carey in fact had managed the next highest Australian score after Inglis', with the visitors top six registering three single-digit totals. It had tipped all the responsibility of the chase onto Inglis when they lost their seventh wicket with 66 still required.

After Australia lost both openers to Brad Evans (4-47) inside the first 19 balls of their reply, Inglis' 85-run stand with Carey looked to have the tourists cruising with the required run rate under five through the middle overs.

Fast running out of partners, Inglis eventually had to take a risk in the fading light, charging at the first ball of new Raza spell only to get beaten in flight after scoring the third Australian century of the series that finishes at 3-0 in favour of the visitors.  

Bigger challenges await for the Aussies in another three-ODI series beginning next week against long-time white-ball adversaries South Africa.

But pulling off their largest successful chase in Africa in 24 years - particularly having won the first two matches against Zimbabwe after batting first - was another tick ahead of their return to this continent for next year's World Cup.

After the early exits of Mitch Marsh and Travis Head, the visitors still made a fast start to their chase thanks largely to Inglis, who struck 11 boundaries as he reverse-swept and paddled his way to a second ODI hundred, his first having also come in a winning run chase during last year's Champions Trophy against England in Pakistan.

Connolly, fresh off becoming the youngest Australian man to help himself to three consecutive ODI fifty-plus scores, faced 15 consecutive dots while also copping a blow to the helmet off Blessing Muzarabani.

After six more dot balls, he missed a wafting drive off Cremer to continue a shortcoming against leg-spin, against which Connolly is now 5-16 from 26 balls across all international formats.

Having slumped to 3-68, Zimbabwe finally got a meaningful contribution from one of their top three as Innocent Kaia struck seven fours on the way to 55 from 66, taking the hosts to 3-148 in an 80-run stand with Craig Ervine (59 off 75).

But their strong platform was compromised when Kaia (retired hurt for 55) injured his right hamstring running a quick single. He faced two more balls after a lengthy examination from medicos before limping off and playing no further part in the match.

Zimbabwe were still only three wickets down at the start of their final 10-over dash. But they managed only 65 more runs from those last 60 balls as the exit of Ervine, caught at long-off off Zampa, sparked thealate stumble.

Ellis struck twice in that period, including a devastating yorker that smashed 40-year-old Cremer on the foot. The home side would have sunk further still if not for Raza as he recorded the highest score by a Zimbabwean in the series.

He hit seven fours and a six off Zampa that flew over the Zimbabwe player families viewing marquee.

Johnson (2-50) had a solid outing along with Adam Zampa (2-54), while Bartlett mixed a sequence of unplayable early deliveries with some freebies, coughing up 39 from his first five overs and later misfielding a ball through his legs on the long-on boundary.

Bartlett did return with a solid final over of the innings, flummoxing the set Raza with a series of slower balls.

Australia XI: Mitch Marsh (c), Travis Head, Cooper Connolly, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Matt Renshaw, Ollie Peake, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson

 

Zimbabwe XI: Brian Bennett, Ben Curran, Innocent Kaia, Brendan Taylor (wk), Craig Ervine, Sikandar Raza (c), Wessly Madhevere, Brad Evans, Graeme Cremer, Ernest Masuku, Blessing Muzarabani

Qantas tour of Zimbabwe 2026

All matches broadcast exclusively in Australia on Kayo and Fox Cricket

First ODI: Australia beat Zimbabwe by 59 runs

Second ODI: Australia beat Zimbabwe by 84 runs

Third ODI: Australia beat Zimbabwe by one wicket

Zimbabwe squad: Sikandar Raza (c), Ben Curran, Blessing Muzarabani, Brad Evans, Brendan Taylor, Brian Bennett, Craig Ervine, Ernest Masuku, Graeme Cremer, Innocent Kaia, Newman Nyamhuri, Ryan Burl, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Wessly Madhevere

Australia squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Joel Davies, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Oliver Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Billy Stanlake, Adam Zampa

Qantas tour of South Africa 2026

All matches to be broadcast exclusively in Australia on Kayo and Fox Cricket

First ODI: September 24, Kingsmead Stadium, Durban, 6pm AEST (10am local)

Second ODI: September 27, Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, 6pm AEST (10am local)

Third ODI: September 30, JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom, 9:30pm AEST (D/N, 1:30pm local)

South Africa ODI squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Ottneil Baartman, Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Tony de Zorzi, Bjorn Fortuin, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs

Australia ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins, Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Joel Davies, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Oliver Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

Warm-up match: October 3-4, JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom, 6pm AEST (10am local)

First Test: October 9-13, Kingsmead Stadium, Durban, 6:30pm AEDT (9:30am local)

Second Test: October 18-22, St George's Park, Gqeberha, 7pm AEDT (10am local)

Third Test: October 27-31, Newlands, Cape Town, 7:30pm AEDT (10:30am local)

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster