Zimbabwe aren’t going anywhere. They are here to reach the semi-finals. They are here to reach lift the title. They were terrific in the first round and continue to produce heart-warming performances in the Super 12 round as well. On Thursday, Craig Ervine and Co. pulled off an upset as they beat Pakistan by just 1 run in a last-ball thriller.
Perhaps, no one had expected Pakistan to lose the game after they restricted Zimbabwe to just 130 runs in the first innings. However, they had a miserable start to their innings in the power play during the chase.
Both the openers, Babar Azam and M Rizwan fell cheaply, once again as the Men in Green could only manage to score 28 runs in the first six overs for the loss of two wickets. The hero of the last game, Iftikhar Ahmed’s wicket in the 8th over left Pakistan reeling at 36 for 3.
Shan Masood and Shadab Khan then steadied the ship and it looked like they would take the team home comfortably. However, Zimbabwe’s main man, Sikandar Raza came to the rescue and picked two wickets in two consecutive deliveries in the 14th over to brighten the hopes again. He came back for his next over and removed Shan Masood in his very first ball to bring his team back into the game.
From 88 for 3, Pakistan slipped to 94 for 4 in the space of 3 overs. Zimbabwe weren’t giving any easy runs but Nawaz and Wasim Jr. took the team to 120 at the end of 19 overs. 11 runs were needed in the final over and three runs came off the first ball. The next ball went for a four, followed by a single and it left the equation down to 3 off 3 balls.
Pakistan lost two wickets in the last three balls and fell 1 run short in the end. Zimbabwe made history and the fans haven’t kept calm, since.
Here’s a look at the reactions:
Pakistan cricket team now at Melbourne airport to karachi
— NECRO MANCER (@whiteLeopard51) October 27, 2022
Agar Zimbabwe hai toh khud he ho jaaye ga sab kuch?
— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) October 27, 2022
Nahi, khud nahi hota, kerna parta hai.
Stay strong pic.twitter.com/xHMM5KMp9z
— AVI⁷👹👹 (@Bassu36559966) October 27, 2022
We are officially the biggest chokers in world cricket.
— Haroon (@hazharoon) October 27, 2022
First Ireland defeated England & now Zimbabwe defeated Pakistan. Cricket is a game of uncertainties and possibilities. No team should be branded as a minnow. Looking forward to rest of the matches #T20WC2022 well done @ZimCricketv #PAKvsZIM
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) October 27, 2022
Pic 1 - Pakistan After 20 overs of Zimbabwe batting
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) October 27, 2022
Pic 2- Pakistan after 20 overs of their batting. #PAKvsZIM pic.twitter.com/amXnUFprQy
💔💔💔 speechless #PAKvsZIM #ICCT20WorldCup2022
— Mohammad Hafeez (@MHafeez22) October 27, 2022
Pakistan were like गवाची गाँव this game. Absolutely clueless #PAKvsZIM #ZimvsPak #T20WorldCup2022
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) October 27, 2022