Sikandar Raza, bowlers earn a famous victory for Zimbabwe over PAK
Zimbabwe pulled off the shock of the tournament by defeating Pakistan by a solitary run in another mind-boggling thriller at the Perth Stadium in the ongoing T20 World Cup. Pakistan were the favourites heading into the game and looked set for a victory after restricting Zimbabwe to just 130 runs in the first innings.
Pakistan’s chase was off to a rocky start as their most experienced batting pair of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam were dismissed cheaply inside the powerplay for the second game running. Iftikhar Ahmed, who was the hero with the bat for Pakistan in their previous encounter, was sent back after nicking a delivery down the leg side.
That is when Shan Masood and Shadab Khan steadied the ship for the Men in Green with a 52-run stand for the fourth wicket. But the Pakistani-born Sikandar Raza rocked Babar’s side by dismissing two batters in two consecutive deliveries to bring his side back into the game.
But it was the wicket of the well-set Shan Masood in Raza’s final over that gave Zimbabwe the edge in the contest. The Zimbabwe pacers kept a lid on things as the extra pace and bounce in Perth proved to be too much for the Pakistani lower-order batters. Raza was sensational for Zimbabwe on a memorable night for the African outfit.
