KABUL (Pajhwok): Zimbabwe’s almost miraculous one run victory over Pakistan in the ICC T20 World Cup surprised cricket fans and sent murmurs around the world.
It was another slim defeat for the Green Shirts, who had lost their tournament opener to India on Sunday in the final over.
Zimbabwe elected to bat first and set Pakistan a target of just 131 runs. Pakistan were in control at 88-3 in 14th over when all hell broke loose and they finished at 129-8 at the end of their 20 overs.
Despite the mini-meltdown in the final quarter of their innings, Pakistan were still in the driving seat at various points, including the final over when seven runs off the first two balls meant they only needed four off as many balls.
A dot ball following a single made Mohammad Nawaz take risk, which did not pay off and his uppish, mistimed shot was grabbed. It meant that with Shaheen Afridi on the strikes, three were needed for a win and two for a tie.
Afridi’s shot off the final ball was in the direction of the long-on fielder and good enough for just a single. The suicidal dash for the double that was never there was attempted but it was not to be found despite a series of fumbles by the Zimbabwe keeper on the batting end.
The run-out saw wild celebrations as the perennial minnows of World cricket pulled off a stunning, almost miraculous win.
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