Raza, Evans and never-say-die Zimbabwe leave Pakistan on the brink
Babar's men stumble in a chase of 131 and will need other teams' help to stay alive in the T20 World Cup
Babar's men stumble in a chase of 131 and will need other teams' help to stay alive in the T20 World Cup
Scorer: Ranjith P | Commentator: @PeterDellaPenna
10.38 pm Raza tackles Evans with a hug that brings them both to the turf. Zimbabwe goes bonkers on the field and there's wild cheers from a strong Zimbabwean contingent in the stands. The Zimbabwean squad does a mini-lap of honor high-fiving the healthy contingent of fans who have come out to support them.
Player of the Match is Sikandar Raza: "I think I'm lost for words. My throat's dry, probably because of all the emotions. I can't tell you how proud I am of this bunch of boys. The way our seamers started at the top as well is just unbelievable and the way we backed it up in the field and the way we kept believing, I don't think there's any words I can share right now. [On wrist tapping signal to Craig Ervine] When we were coming to Australia, I said to my captain, 'If you become Man of the Match, pick any watch from the catalogue and I'll buy you. But if I win Man of the Match, then you're gonna buy me one. So I'm just reminding him that you now owe me three watches now actually. One more thing I thought. There was a small clip sent to me this morning of Ricky Ponting having a small word. I was excited, I was nervous, I was thrilled about today. The motivation was always there but if I needed a little push, I thought that clip did a wonder so thanks very much to Ricky as well."
So Raza takes 3 wickets and also is center stage with the final ball runout relay to secure a famous Zimbabwe win, very deserved winner of the Player of the Match award.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam: "Very disappointing performance in my team. We were not up to the mark in the batting. We had a bad first six overs, but Shadab and Shan built a partnership but unfortunately Shadab out and then back to back wickets and pressure built on the batting. First six overs we are not using the new ball good. Later on we finished well. We'll sit together and learn from our mistakes and come back hard next match."
Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine: "It's so special. Especially for the work that we did to get into the Super 12s and we didn't want our tournament to end there. We wanted to come in and play some really good cricket against some top teams and I thought we did that exceptionally well today. I thought after our batting performance, we thought that we were maybe 20 or 25 short. But our seamers hit their straps early on and there was just a little bit more in the wicket compared to when we started off. Raza came to the party as he always does and picked up a few crucial wickets in the middle there. [On the promise about the watches to Raza] I think he's got three Man of the Matches so I'm gonna be broke by the time we get home. I just want to say thanks to the Zim support that came out today to support us. You guys really lift our spirits wherever we go so a special thanks."
Well, Pakistan's semi-final hopes are now hanging on by a thread. Zimbabwe meanwhile are suddenly in a promising position with three points from two matches and three left to play against Netherlands, Bangladesh and India. You never know...
That'll do it for our live coverage from today's tripleheader. On behalf of my commentary partner Andrew Miller, I'm Peter Della Penna. Take care!
Shaheen Shah Afridi run out 1 (3m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 100.00
Shaheen to face it.
Pakistan's win percentage was 98% before that delivery but still stands at 60% according to the ESPNcricinfo win predictor heading into the final ball now with 3 off 1 needed. Super over is on the cards as a possibility too.
Mohammad Nawaz (3) c Ervine b Evans 22 (36m 18b 1x4 1x6) SR: 122.22
Pakistan win % has gone from 52 to 89% after that 3 on the first ball on the ESPNcricinfo win predictor.
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First Round Group A | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
SL | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0.667 |
NED | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -0.162 |
NAM | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0.73 |
UAE | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -1.235 |
First Round Group B | |||||
Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
ZIM | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0.2 |
IRE | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0.105 |
SCOT | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0.304 |
WI | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -0.563 |
Group 1 | |||||
Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
NZ | 5 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 2.113 |
ENG | 5 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 0.473 |
AUS | 5 | 3 | 1 | 7 | -0.173 |
SL | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -0.422 |
IRE | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | -1.615 |
AFG | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | -0.571 |
Group 2 | |||||
Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
IND | 5 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 1.319 |
PAK | 5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 1.028 |
SA | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0.874 |
NED | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -0.849 |
BAN | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -1.176 |
ZIM | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | -1.138 |