T20 World Cup, Pakistan vs Zimbabwe, Super 12, Group 2 Highlights: Zimbabwe caused a major upset by defeating Pakistan by one run in a Group 2 match on Thursday. Chasing a target of 131, Pakistan faltered as none of their batters, barring Shan Masood (44), could score above 22. Pakistan ultimately managed 129/8 in 20 overs. Masood fought a lone battle as Sikandar Raza (3/25), Brad Evans (2/25), Blessing Muzarabani (1/18) came up with brilliant performances. Earlier, Mohammad Wasim marked his return to the team with a four-for, while Shadab Khan bagged three wickets as Pakistan restricted Zimbabwe to 130 for eight. Wasim returned figrues of 4/24, while Shadab took 3/23 as Pakistan pegged back Zimbabwe after a strong opening stand between Craig Ervine and Wessly Madhevere. Sean Williams played a crucial cameo of 31 as Zimbabwe managed to cross the 120-run mark.
Zimbabwe XI: 1 Wessly Madhevere, 2 Craig Ervine (capt.), 3 Milton Shumba, 4 Sean Williams, 5 Sikandar Raza, 6 Regis Chakabva (wk), 7 Ryan Burl, 8 Luke Jongwe, 9 Brad Evans, 10 Richard Ngarava, 11 Blessing Muzarabani.
Pakistan XI: 1 Babar Azam (capt.), 2 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 3 Shan Masood, 4 Iftikhar Ahmed, 5 Haider Ali, 6 Shadab Khan, 7 Muhammad Nawaz, 8 Mohammad Wasim Jr, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Naseem Shah.
Here are the Highlights of T20 World Cup Match between Pakistan and Zimbabwe straight from the Perth Stadium
T20 World Cup, PAK vs ZIM, Live Scorecard
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That's it from this game! A low-scoring thriller! The World Cup keeps on giving surprises. On 28th October, Afghanistan will take on Ireland at 9.30 am IST (4 am GMT) and later, England will face Australia at 1.30 pm IST (8 am GMT). Do join us for the build up. Cheers!
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Craig Ervine, the skipper of Zimbabwe says it is a special win. They worked hard to get in this round. Says they felt 20-25 runs short at the start but they bowled brilliantly and applauds the performance of Raza. Ends by appreciating the support they are getting.
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Babar Azam, the captain of Pakistan says they should had definitely chased this down but are disappointed as they are not upto the mark with the bat. Adds he and Rizwan have responsibility but they got out. Reckons they need to use the new ball well. Shares that they are looking forward to the next match.
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Sikandar Raza is the Player of the Match. He says he is lost for words and is proud of these players. Adds it is unbelievable but they kept believing until the end. Ends by saying that he recieved a clip of Ricky Ponting in the morning and that gave him extra motivation. He would like to thank Ricky Ponting for that.
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...Presentation coming up...
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Earlier in the day, after being asked to field, courtesy Wasim, Rauf and Shadab, Pakistan kept Zimbabwe to a very low score. However, what we thought was an under par score proved to be enough as Zimbabwe fought till the very last ball and won the game by the slightest of margins.
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What can be said about Pakistan batting! When you have names like Babar, Rizwan and Masood you have to chase 131 down but yet again they just invited pressure on themselves. They took a cautious approach and went about things slowly. They lost wickets in the process and that always kept Zimbabwe in the hunt. Masood played brilliantly, he held one end up but he fell at the wrong time. Nawaz down the order played really well but when it mattered, he could not provide the goods. Twice in a row, he has turned as a villain. This is really heart breaking loss for them.
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What a bowling effort this was from them. Right from the word go, their bowlers made it extremely tough for their batters. Evans, Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava were brilliant with the new ball. Raza was exceptional in the middle overs. Whenever, the game seemed to be slipping away, they managed to grab a wicket. Despite all of it, this was still Pakistan's game to win but it is Zimbabwe who kept their nerve and have emerged victorious.
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3 in 3 is what they needed! Forget that, 131 is what they needed to chase and they have failed to do so. Zimbabwe are on cloud 9, they are elated. What a massive win this is, one that will go down jn history. Zimbabwe are celebrating it with the fans. Absolutely wonderful.
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What a win! What a win this is! Pakistan, what have you done? Twice in a row, they have lost games they should have won and this loss may have just seen their chances of getting ahead into the tournament dented big time.
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19.6WBrad Evans to Shaheen Afridi
OUT! RUN OUT! ZIMBABWE HAVE DONE IT! What a cricket match we had! Absolute scenes at Perth! The Zimbabwe players are jumping on each other. Brad Evans cannot believe what just happened! What a match! Full and on middle, it is pushed to long on. Afridi runs hard but the throw is good enough to the keeper who clips the bails off. The keeper fumbles a bit but had enough time as he caught Shaheen Afridi well short of his crease. ZIMBABWE WIN BY 1 RUN. YES, 1 RUN.
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Shaheen Afridi on the strike.
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19.5WBrad Evans to Mohammad Nawaz
OUT! TAKEN! The game swings in Zimbabwe's favour now. Mohammad Nawaz sits with his head down. What a match this is turning out to be! Short ball, outside off. Nawaz tries to clear the mid off region but toe ends his shot and it goes straight in the hands of Craig Ervine. 3 runs needed in 1 ball.
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19.40Brad Evans to Mohammad Nawaz
DOT BALL! Short in length and outside off. Nawaz tries to cut but gets cramped for room. 3 runs needed now in 2 balls.
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19.31Brad Evans to Mohammad Wasim
Short in length and outside off. Wasim hammers it back to Evans. It burst through his hands and goes to mid off for a single. 3 runs needed in 3 balls.
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19.24Brad Evans to Mohammad Wasim
FOUR! What a shot! Brad Evans tries the slower ball but bowls in the slot on middle. Wasim thumps it over the bowler's head for a boundary. 4 needed in 4.
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19.13Brad Evans to Mohammad Nawaz
Too full and outside off. Nawaz lofts it over covers. The fielder gives a chase, slides and does really well to save a single. The replay shows that is clean. THREE RUNS. 8 runs needed now.
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Brad Evans to bowl the final over.
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18.60Richard Ngarava to Mohammad Wasim
Very full and outside off. Wasim shuffles across to heave but misses. Pakistan need 11 runs in the last over. Mohammad Nawaz on the strike.
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18.51Richard Ngarava to Mohammad Nawaz
A low full toss on middle. Nawaz flicks it to deep mid-wicket for a single.