At the Optus Stadium in Perth on Thursday, Zimbabwe shocked Pakistan in a Group 2 match in the ICC T20 World Cup, ultimately defeating the Asian powerhouses by a single run. Pakistan struggled mightily to reach the 131-run total, frequently losing wickets. Shan Masood (44) managed to keep the innings together, but after he was dismissed, the lower-order batsmen entered, which benefited Zimbabwe.
The standout bowler, Sikandar Raza, claimed three crucial wickets. In the decisive last over, Brad Evans’ bowling allowed him to hold off 11 runs.
Pakistan was banking on Mohammad Nawaz to pull them out of a jam, and he nearly succeeded by hitting a critical six in the penultimate over and then being tripled on the first ball of the last over.
At the other end, Mohammad Wasim Junior scored a boundary and took a single to reduce the situation to 3 out of 3 balls.
Evans then sent Nawaz back to make it 3 required off the final ball as he came around the wicket and delivered a dot ball. The final ball was faced by Shaheen Afridi, who whacked it to the ground. He made every effort to come back for a split second to force a Super over, but he was run out, and Pakistan lost by a run.
