World Cup 2022: In a thrilling upset, Zimbabwe beat Pakistan by 1 run
Zimbabwe hold their nerve against Pakistan and clinch a thrilling win by a solitary run!
Zimbabwe defeated Pakistan by 1 run in a cracking yet another upset of the World Cup T20 match at Perth on Thursday.
In the pursuit of a target of just 131, Pakistan seemed to be in control at 88-3 in14th over, and all hell broke loose when the green team finished at 129-8 at the end of 20 overs.
With an all-around disciplined bowling effort, Sikandar Raza (3/25) helped Zimbabwe stun Pakistan by one run in a thriller finish.
None of the Pakistan batters, barring Shan Masood (44), could score above 22.
The green team ultimately managed to put in 129/8 in 20 overs.
Masood showed some resistance with the bat as Sikandar Raza (3/25), Brad Evans (2/25), and Blessing Muzarabani (1/18) came up with brilliant performances.
Zimbabwe elected to bat first after winning the toss.
The opening pair Wesley Madhevere and skipper Craig Ervine used the pace of Pakistan’s seamers to good effect with a string of boundaries in a 42-run stand.
Wasim Jr returned figures of 4/24, while Shadab took 3/23 as Pakistan pegged back Zimbabwe after a strong opening stand between Craig Ervine and Wessly Madhevere.
Sean Williams played a crucial inning of 31 as Zimbabwe managed to cross the 120-run mark.
Shadab Khan bagged three wickets. Pakistan restricted Zimbabwe to 130 for eight.
Brief Scores:
Zimbabwe: 1 Wessly Madhevere, 2 Craig Ervine (capt.), 3 Milton Shumba, 4 Sean Williams, 5 Sikandar Raza, 6 Regis Chakabva (wk), 7 Ryan Burl, 8 Luke Jongwe, 9 Brad Evans, 10 Richard Ngarava, 11 Blessing Muzarabani.
Pakistan: 1 Babar Azam (capt.), 2 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 3 Shan Masood, 4 Iftikhar Ahmed, 5 Haider Ali, 6 Shadab Khan, 7 Muhammad Nawaz, 8 Mohammad Wasim Jr, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Naseem Shah.
Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Shan Masood, Shadab Khan, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah
Zimbabwe squad: Regis Chakabva (wk), Craig Ervine (capt), Wesley Madhevere, Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Milton Shumba, Brad Evans, Ryan Burl, Luke Jongwe, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani.
The ICC T20 World Cup action continues tomorrow morning with Australia v England at the MCG and the loser is likely to be heading out of the tournament.
