The T20 World Cup 2022 is turning out to a tournament of upsets. After Ireland defeated England on Wednesday, cricket fans witnessed another unexpected result as Zimbabwe defeated last year's semifinalists Pakistan by one run in a nail-biting thriller. Before the start of the match, not even the best of cricket experts gave Zimbabwe a chance but the spirited nation defied all odds and overcame a batting collapse to clinch a clinical victory.
Earlier, two time champions West Indies were knocked out of the T20 World Cup after losing to Scotland and Ireland. In other upsets, Namibia had beaten Sri Lanka in the opening match before the Ireland-England game. Add to that the Pakistan-Zimbabwe game and no team will breathe easy in the tournament going forward.
With Pakistan needing 3 to win off the final ball, Shaheen Afridi was run out trying to come for a second run. The fabulous victory led to frenzied celebrations among the Zimbabwe players, a video of which took the internet by storm and went viral on social media. Watch the video below:
Zimbabwe won the toss and opted to bat first. They had a flying start against the strong Pakistani bowling lineup as the openers scored 42 runs by the fifth over. But captain Craig Ervine's wicket off the last ball of fifth over kick-started a downfall in run-rate for Zimbabwe, as they kept losing wickets, and after 10 overs, were 67/3. Zimbabwe kept losing wickets in the last six overs and were bundled for 130-8 in 20 overs.
{{/usCountry}}Zimbabwe won the toss and opted to bat first. They had a flying start against the strong Pakistani bowling lineup as the openers scored 42 runs by the fifth over. But captain Craig Ervine's wicket off the last ball of fifth over kick-started a downfall in run-rate for Zimbabwe, as they kept losing wickets, and after 10 overs, were 67/3. Zimbabwe kept losing wickets in the last six overs and were bundled for 130-8 in 20 overs.
{{/usCountry}}However, a spirited bowling unit surprised Pakistani openers as both were dismissed by the fifth over in Pakistan's innings. Batter Shan Masood held the other end for Paksitan as wickets tumbled around him. But Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza got rid of him and Pakistan were under pressure at 94-6 in 15.1 overs. Pakistan's tail aided by all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz did fight but fell short of the target by one run. Pakistani innings ended at 129-8 in 20 overs.
Zimbabwe all-rounder Raza who scalped three wickets in the match, was awarded player of the match. Meanwhile, the surprise defeat has made things complicated for Pakistan as they would have a hard time now for qualifying for the semi-finals.