Perth: Zimbabwe, performing better than their stature at the international level, upset Pakistan by one run in a thrilling T20 World Cup match on Thursday. Zimbabwe defended the target of 131 runs well and the Pakistani batsmen took wickets at frequent intervals to allow the opposition team to score 129 runs for eight wickets. Pakistan-born all-rounder Sikandar Raza changed the course of the match in the middle overs, taking three for 25 in his four overs which included the wickets of Shan Masood (44 runs), Shadab Khan (17 runs) and Haider Ali.
Karachi started trending on Twitter as soon as Pakistan lost. People started saying that now Pakistan team has qualified for Karachi airport. That is, the Pakistan team is out of the World Cup (not fully confirmed yet). Along with this, people have also started sharing memes. Pakistan’s fans can hardly digest such a defeat, because after India’s loss to Zimbabwe, it is almost certain to be out.
Right-arm pacer Brad Evans took two wickets for 25 runs while Blessing Mujarbani (1 for 18) and Luke Jongwe (1 for 10) also took wickets to give their team an upset victory. This is Pakistan’s second defeat in two matches, having lost to arch-rivals India by four wickets in another thrilling encounter. This is Zimbabwe’s first win in two matches.
This African team had distributed points in the match against South Africa that was canceled due to rain. For the second time in the tournament, Pakistan’s star batsmen Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan failed to get off to a good start. Evans dismissed skipper Babar at full length. At the same time, Iftikhar Ahmed, who scored a half-century against India, could not stay at the crease for long, due to which Pakistan’s score was 36 for three in 7.4 overs. But Shan Masood stood at one end and he, along with Shadab Khan, put on a 52-run stand for the fourth wicket to take Pakistan’s innings forward.
Leg-spinner all-rounder Raza took three wickets in a row to return Zimbabwe to the match, taking two wickets in the 14th over. Pakistan’s score was reduced to 94 for six in 15.1 overs. Nawaz (22 runs) along with Wasim kept Pakistan in the race. Due to this, the team needed 11 runs in the last over. Nawaz scored three runs and then sent a slow delivery from Evans for a four. But Evans made a brilliant comeback and took Nawaz’s wicket in the fifth ball of the final over, leaving three runs to be scored off the last ball. Shaheen Shah Afridi was run out on the last ball and the score was leveled, leading Zimbabwe to win.