Pakistan suffered a heartbreaking one-run defeat at the hands of Zimbabwe in their second Super 12 match in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 at Perth on Thursday (October 27).
Opting to bat first, Zimbabwe posted 130/8 in their allotted 20 overs. Sean Williams was the top scorer with 31 off 28 balls.
For Pakistan, Mohammad Wasim Jr (4-24) returned with four wickets while Shadab Khan (3-23) bagged three scalps.
In reply, Pakistan’s top order once again disappointed as Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan fell for 4 and 14, respectively. Shan Masood once again came to rescue for the Men in Green, scoring 44 off 38 balls.
However, Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular intervals and found themselves reeling at 94/6 after 15.1 overs.
With 36 needed off 29 balls, Mohammad Nawaz and Mohammad Wasim Jr did a great job to bring Pakistan into the contest and took the match to the last over but they failed to take the team over the finishing line.
In the last over, 11 runs were required and the equation became 3 off 3 balls after Nawaz and Wasim scored 8 runs in the first three deliveries. In the dramatic turn of events, however, Brad Evans bowled a dot and then dismissed Nawaz on the penultimate delivery while Shaheen Afridi got run out on the last ball after completing just 1 run, leaving Pakistan at 129/8 in 20 overs.
Sikandar Raza was the stand-out bowler for Pakistan, claiming three wickets by conceding 25 runs in his four overs while Brad Evans (3-25) and Blessing Muzarabani (1-18) shared three scalps between them.
Indian cricket fraternity was left stunned by Pakistan’s another last-over defeat in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
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