SIKANDAR Raza is a box office player who loves the big stage, and the big stage loves him.
On Tuesday, his all-round performance with four wickets and an unbeaten century in Zimbabwe’s light work of a steep chase once again demonstrated why cricket lovers call him a national treasure on social media.
Any Zimbabwean who does not know anything or little about cricket knows about Raza. His stock continues to rise with each outing in the red shirt.
His name is already etched in Zimbabwe cricket folklore and has almost achieved immortality.
They have composed a song about him, and the words to the song are unprintable. Raza loves the song, and when he dances to the music, you can see why his footwork is excellent against spin.
It is sometimes complicated being Raza because everybody expects the 37-year-old to produce fireworks or magic once he crosses the boundary.
However, by Raza’s lofty standards, he had a quiet opening match of a Global Qualifier against Nepal on Sunday, where he bowled six overs and conceded 44 runs without a wicket.
He was not required to bat against Nepal, an opponent he had scored 123 from 66 balls in 2018 in the opening match of the Cricket World Cup Qualifier of that year at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.
In that match, Raza came in at number six and beat Brendan Taylor to a race to a hundred first despite the latter having come in before him at number four.
When you keep Raza quiet in one match, you shudder to think about what he can do to his next opponent.
There are two sides to Raza, and the Netherlands got to see both in one match.
On Tuesday, the Raza roadshow began with the ball on a featherbed bowling Max O’Dowd for 59 when the Netherlands were cruising.
In his celebration, he paused with his hands raised in the air, and even an amateur photographer in this era of social media had enough time to capture the moment.
Former Netherlands captain Wessley Barressi was bowled by Raza for four, trying to go for a switch hit. Bas de Leede was meeting the same fate.
Vikramjit Singh, who was looking good, fell 12 short of a hundred, top-edging a Raza delivery into the hands of Wellington Masakadza.
In the run chase, he joined Sean Williams with Zimbabwe in a spot of bother at 162-3, still requiring 154 runs to win.
The pair shared an 84-run stand for the fourth wicket, Williams perishing for 91 runs from 58 balls.
His contribution was overshadowed by the Raza show with both bat and ball.
With Zimbabwe requiring 36 from 12 overs, Raza was on 67. He probably sensed that he might run out of runs to get to his hundred and decided to take on Netherlands’s best bowler, Shariz Ahmad.
He slog-swept him for a massive six over midwicket, and the crowd could sense that Zimbabwe were coasting to victory.
The next ball pitched it up, Raza hit the ball over the bowler’s head for another six, and the crowd went into a frenzy.
And the best of the lot was a flat six drilled over extra-cover, and the Castle Corner supporters broke into song and dance.
After the 39th over, Raza had moved to 85 from 47 balls, and Zimbabwe still needed 17 runs from 66 balls.
Ryan Burl took a single to give Raza the strike, and Clayton Flyod kept Raza quiet by only conceding five runs in that over.
All the fans were sitting on the edge of their seats, wondering if Raza would get to a well-deserved century.
Raza always finds a way, and with the fans’ backing, he bats like a man possessed.
Logan van Beek was tasked with stopping Raza from getting to his hundred, like what happened with Sean Williams (91), but once Raza gets past fifty these days, he does not get out.
Raza thumped van Beek’s third ball for a six right into the Castle Corner to move to 94 runs, and Zimbabwe needed 5 runs to win.
The next ball, they ran two to leave him one hit away from a hundred and a comfortable victory for Zimbabwe.
Raza is an entertainer and has mastered the entertainment game. He got to his hundred with a big six over cow corner, sending the stadium into delirium.
Finally, the big tournament player is now on board, and Zimbabwe makes it two out of two.
The Zimbabwe all-rounder’s century from 54 balls became the fastest century by a Zimbabwean in ODI, replacing William’s 70-ball hundred he scored against Nepal in their tournament opener. Regis Chakabva had held the fastest hundred record from 73 balls he scored against Bangladesh at Harare in 2022.
