Watch: Fans Erupt In Joy As Zimbabwe Reach T20 World Cup Super 12s For 1st Time
After Ryan Burl hit the winning boundary, Zimbabwe fans present inside the Blundstone Arena went into a frenzy
Zimbabwe on Friday defeated Scotland in a thriller to qualify for the T20 World Cup Super 12 stage for the first time. With this win, Zimbabwe joined Ireland, who earlier stunned West Indies, from Group A in the next round of the competition. Captain Craig Ervine and Sikandar Raza played crucial knocks as Zimbabwe crossed the finishing line with 9 balls to spare. After Ryan Burl hit the winning boundary, Zimbabwe fans present inside the Blundstone Arena went into a frenzy.
The video was shared by T20 World Cup on their official Instagram handle.
"Zimbabwe qualify for the Super 12 stage for the first time," the video was captioned.
There were also huge celebrations back home in Zimbabwe.
Celebration of Zimbabwe fans, they truly deserve this, after all struggle and pain in last few years. pic.twitter.com/SyUvSnEzuF
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 21, 2022
Chasing a paltry target of 133 runs, Zimbabwe got off to the worst start as they lost their opener Regis Chakabva in the very first over of the match. In the very next over Scotland gave another blow to Zimbabwe as Josh Davey dismissed Wesley Madhevere for zero runs.
Captain Craig Ervine and Sean Williams tried to play some big shots to ease some pressure from the team and took the team's total beyond 40 runs in under 8 overs. However, Zimbabwe's momentum was broken as Williams was dismissed by Michael Leask after scoring 7 runs in 12 deliveries.
Williams' wicket invited the star batter of the team, Sikandar Raza, to the crease. After 10 over Zimbabwe needed 78 runs. Raza shifted gears and slammed boundaries at regular intervals to keep the momentum in his team's favour.
In the 14th over of the innings, Raza hammered Michael Leask for 13 runs and took the winnings equation down to 37 runs in 35 balls. Craig Ervine brought up his much-needed half-century in 48 deliveries.
Raza's blistering stint on the crease came to an end as Josh Davey delivered a stunning bowl to dismiss the Zimbabwe batters for 40 of 23. Scotland gave Zimbabwe a big blow as Mark Watt bagged the crucial wicket of well-set batter Ervine for 58 off 54, giving a twist to the game.
However, Burl kept his nerves to seal Zimbabwe's qualification.
Earlier, Scotland were restricted to a total of 132 for six.
(With ANI Inputs)
Zimbabwe Cricket Team
Scotland
Craig Ervine
Sikandar Raza
Bellerive Oval, Hobart