Perth : Zimbabwe shocked Pakistan by one run in a thrilling T20 World Cup match here on Thursday. Opting to bat after winning the toss, Zimbabwe scored 130 for eight. Shan Masood top-scored with 44 off 38 balls, but Pakistan fell short in the end as they failed to score the three runs required for victory in the last ball of the match.Sikandar Raza was Zimbabwe’s most successful bowler with 3/25, while Brad Evans picked up two wickets for 25 runs.
Sean Williams was the highest scorer for Zimbabwe with 31 off 28 balls. A few Zimbabwe batters got starts, but could not translate them into substantial scores. Mohammad Wasim was the most successful bowler for Pakistan, returning with fine figures of 4/24 from his four overs, and leg-spinner Shadab Khan was also excellent with the ball and picked up 3/23 in his quota of four overs.
Craig Ervine, Zimbabwe skipper, said, So special. Especially for the work we did to get into the Super 12s. We did not want our tournament to end there. We wanted to come in and play some really good cricket against top teams and we did that exceptionally well today. I thought after our batting performance, we thought we were maybe 20-25 short, but I thought our seamers hit their straps early on. Raza again came to the party as he always does and picked up a few crucial wickets in the middle there. I think he’s (Raza) got three Man of the Matches, so I’m gonna be broke by the time we get home. Also I want to thank the Zimbabwean supporters that came out today to support us. You guys really lift our spirits wherever we go, so special thanks.
Babar Azam, Pakistan skipper, said, We would have taken 130 at the halfway stage. Very disappointing performance, we are not up to the mark in batting. We have good batters but both openers got out in the powerplay. When Shadab and Shan were building partnership, unfortunately Shadab got out and then back-to-back wickets that pushed us into pressure situation. First 6 overs, we haven’t used the new ball well but we finished well with the ball. We will sit out, discuss our mistakes and we will train hard and come back strong in our next game.