Zimbabwe | Pakistan

South Africa survived a brilliant all-round show by Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza to record a five-wicket win on Sunday, which means they remained unbeaten ahead of a semi-final against New Zealand on Wednesday. After Zimbabwe scored 153-7 in New Delhi, South Africa survived an early wobble. Dewald Brevis hit 42 off 18 balls as the 2024 runners-up reached 154-5 in 17.5 overs. Raza earlier hit 73 and then took 3-29 with his off-spin for Zimbabwe, who had stunned Australia and co-hosts Sri Lanka in the group stage to reach the Super Eights. Raza struck on the third ball of the South African chase to send back Quinton de Kock, caught behind for a duck. Raza bowled skipper Aiden Markram for four in the next over. Ryan Rickelton was hit on the helmet by a bouncer from Brad Evans and took five minutes to recover. He then lifted Evans for two straight sixes in the next over before the bowler had him caught for 31. Brevis and David Miller, who hit 22, put on 50 before two more quick strikes from Zimbabwe. Blessing M...

Defending champions India thrashed Zimbabwe by 72 runs in their Super Eights T20 World Cup match on Thursday, a result that guaranteed South Africa a place in the semi-finals. India posted a mammoth 256-4 and then restricted Zimbabwe to 184-6 in Chennai to make their clash with West Indies in Kolkata on Sunday a winner-takes-all decider for the last semi-final berth. South Africa hammered the West Indies by nine wickets earlier in Ahmedabad. At Chennai’s MA Chidambaram stadium, opener Abhishek Sharma blasted 55 and Hardik Pandya an unbeaten 50 as India piled up the second highest total in the history of the tournament after being invited to bat first. “I think we wanted to leave everything behind. We didn’t think too much about what we did in the league stage or in the last game in Ahmedabad,” said India captain Suryakumar Yadav. “With contributions from the top order right down to number seven, I think there was hardly anything missing in our performance. He said they had not thought about what is now a knoc...

Defending champions score 256-4, restrict Zimbabwe to 184-6 in Chennai to win by 72 runs

The West Indies blew away T20 World Cup surprise package Zimbabwe by a colossal 107 runs in Mumbai on Monday as Shai Hope’s team opened their Super Eights campaign with a dominant victory. Shimron Hetmyer blasted 85 off 34 balls as the West Indies piled up 254-6, the second-highest total in the history of the tournament. Zimbabwe, who stunned Australia and Sri Lanka to reach the Super Eights, got off to an awful start chasing a monumental 255. They were reduced to 20-3 in the third over when two wickets fell to Akeal Hosein’s left-arm spin and never threatened to get close. They were all out for 147 in 17.4 overs with Brad Evans hitting some lusty late blows before being last man out for 43 off 21 balls with five sixes. Left-armer Gudakesh Motie was the pick of the West Indies bowlers with 4-28 as he found some sharp turn. Hosein took 3-28. Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza won the toss and opted to bowl, then saw his bowlers flogged to all parts of the Wankhede stadium. Only Sri Lanka, who made 260-6 against Ke...

The 2021 champions Australia were knocked out of the T20 World Cup on Tuesday, with Zimbabwe qualifying for the Super Eights after their match against Ireland was washed out without a ball being bowled in Kandy. Zimbabwe joined Sri Lanka as qualifiers from Group B and will move on to face the West Indies, India and South Africa in the next phase. Ireland were also eliminated. Persistent drizzle all day at the Pallekelle stadium kept the covers on and the umpires finally called it off at 5:30pm local time (1200 GMT) with no prospect of beginning the minimum five-over match before the 6:10pm cut-off time. Australia, who had been beaten by Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, needed an Ireland victory to keep their hopes alive. Zimbabwe are now on an unassailable five points with a game to still to come, while Ireland are third on three points. Australia, on two points, have one game remaining against Oman on Friday, but cannot overtake Zimbabwe. Australia had a shambolic build-up to the tournament They lost leading pace bow...

Pakistan clinched a comfortable 8-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in Harare during the team’s last group-stage match in the ongoing U19 World Cup, advancing into the Super Six round. After facing a 37-run defeat by England in their tournament opener, the Green Shirts made a comeback, beating Scotland and Zimbabwe in back-to-back matches. With the win, Pakistan has secured second place in the group rankings, with England on top. As per the tournament’s format, the top three teams from the four groups will qualify for the Super Six round, where they will be divided into two groups of six teams, each playing two matches. This means that despite the loss, Zimbabwe will also advance into the Super Six stage. Pakistan U19 captain Farhan Yousaf had won the toss and elected to field first at Takashinga Sports Club. Pakistan’s bowlers maintained a strong grip over the Zimbabwean batters, with a dominating performance by Ali Raza, who took three wickets and bowled four maiden overs. Mohammad Sayyam, Abdul Subhan, and Momi...

Fresh from a widely-celebrated U-19 Asia Cup triumph, skipper of the Pakistan youth team Farhan Yousaf wants his side to show humility as they take on Zimbabwe and Afghanistan in the tri-series that starts in Harare on Saturday. The series will act as a warm-up for the teams ahead of the U-19 World Cup, which is set to be held from January 15 in Zimbabwe and Namibia. Pakistan won the U-19 Asia Cup title after beating an unbeaten India side by 191 runs in the final last week — the achievement sparking raucous celebrations back home with the national youth squad welcomed by a huge crowd at the Islamabad International Airport. The decider saw Pakistan opener Sameer Minhas smash a scintillating 172 and pacer Ali Raza routing the Indian batting line-up with a four-wicket show under the mentorship of former national skipper Sarfraz Ahmed. The achievement added star value to the Pakistan U-19 team, raising expectations ahead of the tri-series and the World Cup, but for Farhan, it is about focusing on what he believe...

Mystery spinner Usman Tariq produced a spell for the ages, claiming a hat-trick and stunning figures of 4 for 18 to bowl Pakistan to a crushing 69-run victory over Zimbabwe in their Twenty20 International tri-series clash at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Sunday night. The win sealed for Pakistan a spot in the November 29 final. Chasing a formidable 196, Zimbabwe were skittled for a paltry 126 in 19 overs, collapsing from 60 for 4 to 60 for 7 in the space of just five deliveries during a mesmerising 10th over from the 25-year-old Usman. The Rawalpindi crowd erupted as the unorthodox spinner became only the fourth Pakistani to take a T20I hat-trick. Zimbabwe never recovered from the early blows delivered by Pakistan’s pace battery. Naseem Shah struck with his sixth ball when Tadiwanashe Marumani (four) chipped tamely to cover point, and Mohammad Wasim Jr clean-bowled the dangerous Brian Bennett (nine) with a sharp inswinger to reduce the visitors to 14 for 2. Brendan Taylor looked scratchy and fell for eight, s...

NOTTINGHAM: Zimbabwe opening batter Brian Bennett smashed multiple records with his quick century against England at Trent Bridge on Friday. After England posted 565/6d on the scoreboard in the first innings on the back of tons from Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope, Zimbabwe were in trouble from the start as Ben Curran was […]