English cricket team in Zimbabwe in 1996–97
# English cricket team in Zimbabwe in 1996–97

The English cricket team toured Zimbabwe for a two-match Test series and a three-match One Day International (ODI) series between 15 December 1996 and 3 January 1997. The Test series was drawn 0–0 and Zimbabwe won the ODI series 3–0. It was England's first senior tour of Zimbabwe.

## Test series

### 1st Test

* 18–22 December 1996 Scorecard
* Match drawn Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo Umpires: Steve Dunne (NZ) and Ian Robinson (Zim) Player of the match: Nick Knight (Eng)
* Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat.
* This was the first Test in history to finish in a draw with the scores level. England needed three runs to win off the final ball of the match, but Nick Knight was run out attempting the third run.

### 2nd Test

* 26–30 December 1996 Scorecard
* Match drawn Harare Sports Club, Harare Umpires: KT Francis (SL) and Russell Tiffin (Zim) Player of the match: Grant Flower (Zim)
* Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to field.
* No play on day 5 because of overnight rain.

## ODI series

### 1st ODI

* 15 December 1996 Scorecard

| England 152 (45.5 overs) | v | Zimbabwe 153/8 (43.5 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Nasser Hussain 49* (87) John Rennie 3/27 (8 overs) | | Andy Waller 48 (71) Alan Mullally 2/24 (10 overs) |

* Zimbabwe won by 2 wickets Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo Umpires: Quintin Goosen (Zim) and Russell Tiffin (Zim) Player of the match: Alistair Campbell (Zim)
* Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to field.

### 2nd ODI

* 1 January 1997 Scorecard

| Zimbabwe 200 (48.5 overs) | v | England 179/7 (42 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Andy Flower 63 (114) Darren Gough 4/43 (8.5 overs) | | John Crawley 73 (109) Paul Strang 3/24 (9 overs) |

* Zimbabwe won by 6 runs Harare Sports Club, Harare Umpires: Graeme Evans (Zim) and Ian Robinson (Zim) Player of the match: John Crawley (Eng) and Paul Strang (Zim)
* England won the toss and elected to field.
* Rain reduced the England innings to 42 overs, with a revised target of 185 runs.

### 3rd ODI

* 3 January 1997 Scorecard

| Zimbabwe 249/7 (50 overs) | v | England 118 (30 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Alistair Campbell 80* (103) Craig White 1/39 (7 overs) | | Robert Croft 30* (37) Eddo Brandes 5/28 (10 overs) |

* Zimbabwe won by 131 runs Harare Sports Club, Harare Umpires: Russell Tiffin (Zim) and Ian Robinson (Zim) Player of the match: Eddo Brandes (Zim)
* England won the toss and elected to field.
* Eddo Brandes took the first ODI hat-trick for Zimbabwe.
