T20 World Cup: Zimbabwe cause huge upset, beat Pakistan by one run | Cricket News

PERTH: Zimbabwe punched above their weight and stunned Pakistan by one run in a nail-biter T20 World Cup game here on Thursday.
Zimbabwe defended a modest 131, stymied the Pakistan batsmen and picked up wickets at regular intervals to restrict their prestigious opponents to 129 for eight.
Pakistan-born all-rounder Sikandar Raza turned the game on its head in the middle overs with figures of 3 for 25 from his four overs, which included the wickets of Shan Masood (44), Shahdab Khan (17) and Haider Ali.

Right-arm pacer Brad Evans returned with figures of 2/25, while Blessing Muzarabani (1/18) and Luke Jongwe (1/10) also picked up wickets, to help their side to an incredible victory.
It was Pakistan’s second defeat in as many matches after the four-wicket loss to arch-rivals India in another thrilling match.

For Zimbabwe, it was their first win from two matches. The African team earlier shared points with South Africa after a washout.
For the second time in the tournament, Pakistan’s star openers – captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan – could not provide a good start.
As It Happened
Babar looked tentative before being overhauled by a seamless full-length delivery from Evans.
An over later, Rizwan played a Muzarabani delivery on the stumps as he tried to cut a ball that was too close to his body.
Iftikhar Ahmed, who scored a brisk fifty against India, also did not last long, reducing Pakistan to 36 for three in 7.4 overs.

But Shan Masood held on for one run and shared 52 runs for the fourth wicket with Shadab Khan to take Pakistan forward.
All-rounder Raza had other plans as he brought Zimbabwe back into the game with three quick wickets, including two in the 14th over.
Raza first initiated a mishit from Shadab when he was stretched at stretch and then sent Haider Ali back for a duck.
Raza’s best moment came in his next over when he got the wicket of Masood, who was brilliantly stopped by Chakabva, as Pakistan slumped to 94 for six in 15.1 overs.
But Nawaz (22) kept Pakistan in the hunt in the company of Wasim and brought the equation down to 11 in the last over.
Nawaz started by picking up three runs and then hit a slower delivery from Evans over his head for a maximum.
Evans bounced back brilliantly and dismissed Nawaz in the penultimate ball to bring the equation to three runs off the final delivery.
However, Shaheen Shah Afridi was run out as Pakistan went for a non-existent second run in an attempt to level the scores, giving Zimbabwe a famous win.
This was after fast bowlers Wasim (4/24) and Shadab (3/23) shared seven wickets between them to derail Zimbabwe after a good start.
Haris Rauf, who was taken to the cleaners by Virat Kohli in the penultimate over in their last match, finished with 1 for 12 from his four overs.
Zimbabwe started well after opting to bat with captain Craig Ervine (19) and Wessly Madhevere (17) adding 42 runs from five overs for the opening wicket.
The partnership was broken by Rauf when Ervine was beaten by sheer pace, and hit one to Wasim at short fine leg. Two balls later, Madhevere followed suit.
Milton Shumba (8) didn’t help his team’s cause either, giving a straight back catch to Shadab soon after.
Sean Williams (31) and Raza (9) shared 31 runs for the fourth wicket before Shadab delivered two blows in the 14th over.
Shadab first cleaned up Williams as the batsman went wide reverse sweep and then Regis Chakabva drove the next delivery, which was caught brilliantly by captain Babar Azam at slip off the bowler’s last ball of his spell, giving him a chance refused to fetch a hat. – trick
Another double hit in the next over from Wasim broke Zimbabwe’s backbone.
Raza once again failed to replicate his form in the qualifiers as he was run out by Wasim, caught by Rauf at deep square fence in the next over and then Luke Jongwe was bowled in the very next ball.
Evans (19 off 15) and Ryan Burl (10 not out) played good hands towards the end.