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Watch: Zimbabwe's unique bat-tapping celebration in dressing room after T20 World Cup qualification
Making their return to the top stage of international cricket after some years in the wilderness, it was a big moment for the Zimbabweans.
Zimbabwe beat Papua New Guinea in their Global Qualifier B semifinal, and through that victory became one of the two teams from that division to qualify for the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year, alongside the Netherlands. Making their return to the top stage of international cricket after some years in the wilderness, it was a big moment for the Zimbabweans, and a video shared by their social handles shows how they celebrated it in style. Watch: Ravindra Jadeja grabs a stunner; Hardik Pandya skittles England with short-ball ploy in 3rd ODI
In the video, the Zimbabwe players take their bats and tap them on the floor of their dressing room in unison, creating a rhythm and slowly adding their voices to it, before reaching a crescendo. It was a chilling moment that goes to show how much this qualification meant for the team.
Zimbabwe have seen a recent downturn in their calibre of cricket, largely due to administrative misdemeanours and a series of crises which racked the African nation throughout the 2010s. After failing to qualify for the 2019 World Cup and the 2021 T20 World Cup, Zimbabwe would have to battle to maintain their Test status, and not lose it as they did in 2006.
This was a big victory for the team, which saw them take one of the four spots decided through the Global Qualifiers system of matches. Ireland and Oman qualified through the A pool, while Netherlands and Zimbabwe qualified through the B pool. The B pool matches are being played in Zimbabwe.
Up against a Papua New Guinea team which has made a good account for itself in recent years, Zimbabwe put up 199-5 with strong contributions from all their batters at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. In response, PNG were going strong with talisman Tony Ura at 66(35), but his wicket in the 14th over meant Zimbabwe could close out a 27-run victory.
In the other semifinal, the Netherlands beat USA, seeking a first appearance at an ICC tournament, by 7 wickets. They are currently playing a final match which has an influence on seedings, but both will be satisfied with their qualification for the main event in Australia later this year.
