Arguably the biggest upset of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022 – even bigger than West Indies failing to qualify for Super 12 and Ireland sneaking by against England – came on Thursday as Zimbabwe stunned Pakistan in Perth and sent the cricket fraternity into pandemonium.
Another person who went berserk was commentator Pommie Mbangwa. The former Zimbabwe fast bowler was all emotional when commentating on the last ball of the match, and along with him stood a shocked and in disbelief Bazid Khan, the Pakistani commentator and the former Pakistani batter.
Pakistani needed 3 runs on the last ball with Shaheen Afridi on strike and the bowler was pacer Brad Evans. Shaheen thumped a full delivery down the ground where the long-on fielder collected the ball calmly and threw it at the batting end knowing that Shaheen, who is already still recovering from a knee injury, was late. Wicket-keeper Chakabva also fumbled a bit, but still was quick enough to gather the ball and affect the run-out, winning the game by only 1 run!
Commentating on the last ball, Pommie Mbangwa became emotional and was animated with his gestures as he soaked in all the pleasure of Zimbabwe winning the match.
Watch this masterpiece of commentary from Pommie Mbangwa here:
Commentary on the final ball.
When Zimbabwe beat Pakistan.#PAKvsZIM #PAKvZIM#ZIMvPAK #ZIMvsPAKpic.twitter.com/JAN715h6wx— Cricket Videos🏏 (@Crickket__Video) October 27, 2022
On the fast and bouncy pitch in Perth, the Pakistani bowlers ran the show in the first half of the game, restricting Zimbabwe to 130. Little had anyone anticipated of what is to come: a spirited Zimbabwe bowling and fielding effort and a typical Pakistani collapse – who were 88/3 at one stage and looked comfortable for a win – made up a perfect recipe for an upset.
Sikandar Raza was named the Man of the Match for his bowling figures of 3/25 as he took out three middle-order batters.
Pakistani skipper Babar Azam termed this loss as “very disappointing”.
“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,” Babar said.
This result now means that Pakistan don’t have their destiny in their own hands regarding the semi-final, and Zimbabwe, whose match with South Africa was washed out and now they have 3 points in 2 matches, can dream of qualifying for the semi-final.
