T20 WC 2022, Gr 2, ZIM v PAK: Raza's 3-25, Seamers' economical bowling help Zim clinch nail-biter

ICC Men's T20 WC 2022, Super 12, Group 2, Zimbabwe v Pakistan: Sikandar Raza's 3-25, Brad Evans 2-25, Mohammad Wasim's 4-24 and Shadab Khan's 3-23 are top performances. Zimbabwe beat Pakistan by 1 run in Super 12s game at Perth. Zimbabwe move to third place in Points table.

Zimbabwe upset Pakistan in Super 12 game at Perth (Photo: ©Getty Images)

Brief Scores: Zimbabwe 130/8 (Williams 31, Wasim 4/24, Shadab 3/23) beat Pakistan 129/8 (Masood 44, Raza 3/25, Evans 2/25) by 1 run

Player of the Match: Sikandar Raza (3/25 in his four overs)

Pakistan who were stunned and heart-broken after their last ball defeat to India in the opening game of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, took on Zimbabwe who were lucky in a rain-affected game that saved them from a loss against South Africa. The sixth Group 2 game of the Super 12 stage was held at the Perth Stadium in Perth.

Both sides have faced each other 17 times in this format prior to this game, where Pakistan won 16 games, including five since 2019.

Pakistan failed to chase 131 against skilful Zimbabwe

When the Pakistan openers came out to bat to chase 131, their mind was probably centred on how many overs they would take for this job but as soon as they departed, the whole batting line-up came under immense pressure. Bad shot selection saw them lose wickets quickly as the runs got dried up alongside.

Zimbabwe were excellent with the ball and their ground fielding probably saved few runs that helped them in the end. But with two back-to-back defeats, the Pakistan batting line-up would have to face some honest questions going forward.

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Disciplined Zimbabwe kept their nerves to record heart-stopping victory

Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine on winning the toss elected to bat first on a track which was expected to remain the same throughout the whole game. Pakistan left out Asif Ali in place of Mohammad Wasim, while Zimbabwe dropped Tendai Chatara for Brad Evans.

Deciding to bat first, Zimbabwe began decently with 47/2 in the powerplay before they let Pakistan make a comeback to be reduced to 67/3 in 10 overs. At one point, they were 95/3 in 13.4 overs and four quick wickets saw them slip to 95/7 in the next nine balls. Eventually, Pakistan with some expressive and smart bowling restricted the opponents to 130/8 in their allotted 20 overs.

Chasing a low total, Pakistan didn’t begin well as they were on 28/2 in the powerplay, before slipping to 54/3 in 10 overs. With both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan back in the shed, the pressure was mounting on them as they reached 93/5 in 15 overs. The Zimbabwe bowlers kept their nerves as they pulled off a mouth-watering victory on the last ball by 1 run.

Let’s scan the top three performances between Pakistan and Zimbabwe from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2022.

Mohammed Wasim took 4-24 against Zimbabwe (Photo: ©PCB/Twitter)

Zimbabwe found Mohammad Wasim (4/24) too hot to handle

Opting to bat first, Zimbabwe on a bouncy track and up against four quality Pakistan bowlers went off to an excellent start to watch themselves at 42/1 in five overs which was when Pakistan captain Babar Azam introduced Mohammad Wasim into the attack.

In his very second over, Wasim sent back dangerous looking Wesley Madhevere on 17 who was struck on the knee roll as ball-tracking technology showed that it was crashing onto the top of off stump. Zimbabwe recovered well to 87/3 in 13 overs before losing two wickets in the 14th over.

When Wasim came back for his third over in the 15th over of the innings, he straightaway caged the big fish Sikandar Raza on 9 who in trying to cross the bigger boundary by pulling a short ball found the deep square leg fielder. On the very next ball, Wasim with his pace and bounce broke the stumps of Luke Jongwe for a first ball duck.

In his last over after being pulled for a six, he rattled the stumps of Brad Evans on 19 to finish with 4/24 in his four overs which are incidentally his best bowling figures in T20I cricket. Wasim now has 30 wickets in 21 T20Is.

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Shadab Khan took 2-23 against Zimbabwe in Super 12s game (Photo: ©PCB/Twitter)

Smart Shadab Khan makes Zimbabwe struggle with 3/23

Australia demolished Wanindu Hasaranga on the same ground when they faced Sri Lanka a few days ago and Shadab Khan had a big role to play if Pakistan wanted to tie up Zimbabwe to a low score.

With the fourth ball of his second over, Shadab caught an easy catch of Milton Shumba off his own bowling to send him back on 8. His last over of the spell changed the fate of the game on its head.

When Shadab was brought on for his last over, Zimbabwe were on 87/3 in 15 overs. After being hit for a four at the beginning of the over, Shadab deposited the wicket of Sean Williams who going for a reverse sweep ended up observing his stumps being broken on a personal score of 31. On the very next ball, Shadab found the outside edge of Regis Chakabva as Babar Azam grabbed a splendid catch in the slips.

Shadab finished with 3/23 in his four overs and he now has 90 T20I wickets in 79 games at an economy of just over seven.

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Sikandar Raza gets player of the match for his 3-25 vs PAK (Photo: ©Getty Images)

Raza-Evans with 5/50 drive Zimbabwe to a memorable victory

The only thing which could keep Zimbabwe in the hunt defending such a low total was nothing but taking wickets at regular intervals and they did so thanks to Sikandar Raza and Brad Evans who bowled an outstanding last over defending 11. Evans drew first blood with the wicket of Babar Azam on 4 who was squared up in trying a defensive shot as the point fielder grabbed an easy catch.

Raza has been in excellent touch with bat and ball in this T20 World Cup 2022 scoring the bulk of runs and taking wickets for Zimbabwe. In his third over after being smacked for a six, on the very next ball, he removed Shadab Khan on 17 who used his feet trying to go for a six and ended up offering catching practice to long-off. The very next delivery saw the wicket of Haider Ali who was trapped LBW with a seam up delivery from Raza.

Raza’s last over saw him get the prize wicket of set batter Shan Masood on 44 who was stumped on a wide delivery thanks to the acrobatic skills from Regis Chakabva. Raza finished with 3/25 in his four overs and he now has 36 T20I wickets in 63 games.

Evans was given a tough job of defending 11 runs in the last over and he delivered smartly. After being punished for a four, Evans grabbed the wicket of Mohammad Nawaz on 22 with a back of a length ball as Nawaz miscued it to the running mid-off fielder. With a fabulous full delivery, Evans who finished with 2/25 in his four overs shouldered Zimbabwe to a heart-stopping victory.

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ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 Group 2 Points Table

Group 2 Points Table

Points Scenario and What’s Next

With this victory, Zimbabwe now sit at number three in the points table with a net run rate (NRR) of 0.050, while back-to-back losses have pushed Pakistan to number five with an NRR of -0.050.

Pakistan will now face Netherlands at the Perth Stadium in Perth on October 30, while earlier on the same day Zimbabwe will meet Bangladesh at the Gabba in Brisbane.

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