Perth: Presenting a big setback for Pakistan (Pak), Zimbabwe (Zim) beat them for a run, the latter holding their nerves, defending a weak total at the Super 12 match of ICC T20I World Cup 2022 on Thursday.
Pakistan thus sustained their second loss in the tournament, making it difficult for their road to the semifinals.
In the match where Zim won the toss and elected to bat first, they had a hard time facing the Pak bowling. Mohammad Wasim Jr (4/24) and Shadab Khan's (3/23) led bowling attack restricted Zim to 130/8 in 20 overs. Also, Haris Rauf exhibited a tight spell, conceding only 12 runs from 4 overs.
However, Pak couldn't take out a fair start during the chase. They lost Mohammad Rizwan (14) and Babar Azam (4) in the powerplay itself and struggled. But later, Shan Masood scored 44 from 38 balls, but after he fell, Pak lost momentum. Zim's bowling department was in excellent shape, giving Pak no gap to score.
At the tail end, Mohammed Nawas tried to rescue his team, but the overs ran out, leaving them one more run to level the scores.
Sikandar Raza (3/25) and Brad Evans (2/25) bowled well for Zim.
Batting first, Zim had a great start with openers Wessley Madhevere and skipper Craig Ervine playing at 10 runs per over in the first three overs. Later, the momentum was lost when Ervine got out.
Zimbabwe was, at first, 95/3 and suddenly fell to 95/7 after Pak bowlers went for a rampage in Perth. Bradly Evans helped Zim to 130.
Brief Score: Zimbabwe 130/8 in 20 overs (Sean Williams 31, Brad Evans 19; Mohammad Wasim Jr 4/24, Shadab Khan 3/23) beat Pakistan 129-8 in 20 overs (Shan Masood 44, Mohammad Nawaz 22; Sikandar Raza 3/25, Brad Evans 2/25) by 1 run.