T20 World Cup: Zimbabwe win hearts on Twitter with thrilling win as ex-Pakistan cricketers slam Men in Green

Oct 27, 2022 - 22:30

0 17

T20 World Cup: Zimbabwe win hearts on Twitter with thrilling win as ex-Pakistan cricketers slam Men in Green

Pakistan found themselves suffering back-to-back heartbreaks in the T20 World Cup as Zimbabwe held on to their nerves to pull off a thrilling one-run win in Perth on Thursday.

The Zimbabwean bowlers staged a superb comeback in the business end of the match after the fourth-wicket stand between Shan Masood and Shadab Khan had put the former T20 world champions in the driver’s seat.

All-rounder Sikandar Raza was responsible for bringing the Chevrons back in the game, dismissing the set Shadab and Haider Ali off successive deliveries in the 14th over before getting the all-important wicket of Masood in his final over of the evening to suddenly put the Men in Green under pressure.

Brad Evans, drafted into the Zimbabwean XI in place of Tendai Chatara, bowled a superb final over to get his team over the line after Pakistan were left needing 11 to win from the final over. Evans started off on an expensive note, conceding three and four off the first two balls, but kept his calm and bowled tight lines to concede just one off the next three, getting rid of Nawaz off the penultimate ball.

Shaheen Shah Afridi was the last man to walk out to bat, and was run out while charging back for a second as Zimbabwe, who had pulled off an upset victory over Australia in the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup, pulled off one of their most memorable wins ever.

Social media was abuzz after the thriller at Perth; while Pakistani ex-cricketers and fans moaned their team’s inability to win tight games, a majority of Cricket Twitter was all praise for the spirited Zimbabweans, who now sit at the third spot in Group 2 behind India and South Africa and suddenly look like contenders for a spot in the knockouts.

We take a look at some of the most interesting reactions here: