ASHLEY DUBE
Fielders on the fence. Here is Evans. It’s going to be one, will it be two. Oh they have finally grabbed it. And man oh man, heart stopping stuff. What a victory for Zimbabwe, they were gone, probably dead and half buried at the half way stage with just 130 on the board. But somehow with those tall bowlers, with the bounce here at Perth, with Raza in the middle with three they have fought and fought and finally managed to get home. What a win by just one run!
Legendary commentator Mpumemelo “Pommie” Mbangwa went delirious with excitement as the Chevrons completed a sensational one run victory over the much fancied Pakistan.
With Pakistan needing three runs from the last ball, Shaheen Shah Afridi were on strike, and Brad Evans with ball in hand (making his World Cup debut as he stood in for Tendai Chatara).
Afridi drove the full-length delivery down the fielder where Sikandar Raza who was at long-on picked it up calmly and threw towards the striker’s end.
Regis Chakabva fumbled initially but he was quick enough to react and execute the glorious, and much-needed run-out.
Zimbabwe had managed to defend a meagre 130 against a much-fancied Pakistan. This win can be attributed to the tremendous bowling performance of the Chevrons as they were on the money from ball one.
The seamers did not allow the indomitable pair of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam to settle.
Babar was the first to give in, edging one to point off the bowling of Brad Evans. Muzarabani struck an over later when he removed number one ranked batsman Rizwan as he played one on to his off stump. The golden arm, Luke Jongwe, removed Iftikhar Ahmed as he was caught behind.
Pakistan wrestled back in control in the middle as Shaheen Masood and Shadab Khan stitched up a half-century partnership.
In came the prolific Sikandar Raza who took two in two, first removing Shadab Khan then followed by Haider Ali who was trapped in front leg before. In his next over Raza got the big wicket of Shan Masood following excellent glove-work by Chakabva who effected the stumping.
Raza finished with figures of 3-25 from his four overs, leaving the work to the pacers who managed to defend the 31 runs from the remaining four overs albeit with some nerve-wrecking, edge-of-your-seat stuff moments in between. He was named the Man of the Match.
Earlier on Zimbabwe, had won the toss and elected to bat first; and had a fast start courtesy of Wessly Madhevere and skipper Craig Ervine who raced to 38 after overs.
Ervine was removed by Haris Rauf as he failed to deal with the short delivery. Madhevere quickly followed after he was trapped in front by Wasim Jr before Shumba was caught and bowled by Shadab Khan.
An unsettling collapse then ensued as Zimbabwe lost 4 wickets with no runs added to the board, slipping from 95-3 to 95-7. Ryan Burl and Brad Evans held their own and managed to set a respectable total in spite of the fact that it was below par.
Zimbabwe are currently third in Group B on 3 points. The first Super 12 match against the Proteas was a no-result as it was called off due to rain. The
The match was reduced to a nine-over match with Zimbabwe setting a target of 80. Wicketkeeper batsman Quinton de Kock almost single-handedly took the Proteas home clobbering Zimbabwe bowlers all over the park before rain came down again and the conditions were rendered unsafe for the match to continue.
This was before the Proteas had batted for five overs which is the minimum number of overs required in T20I in order for the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method to come into play.
The Chevrons will take on Bangladesh on the 30th of October, 2022, at the Gabba in Brisbane. The optimism of achieving glory at this 2022 T20 World Cup is palpable, and Zimbabwe’s cricketing story at this world stage has truly touched the hearts of many in the world.
It is a story of hope, resilience, hard work, teamwork, and belief. And yep, Pak Bean was avenged.
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