How did Zimbabwe win the last-over thriller against Pakistan? Hard lengths, hard lengths. After getting tonked for a 3 and a four with fuller balls (the second one a slower), Brad Evans adjusted to hit the hard length for three of the final 4 balls The result? Zimbabweans were screaming their heads off and lying on the ground in joy. The fourth was a rasping seamer that beat the bat. Dot ball. The fifth, another hard length, was weakly shovelled to mid-off by Nawaz, and Mohammad Wasim Jr sunk to the ground. He was not on strike, and probably knew the game was up. It was. The final ball was the surprise fuller one but Shaheen could only hit to mid-on. They ran hard, and there was even a fumble by the wicketkeeper Regis Chakabwa, who had already effected the stumping of the tournament with a quick leg-side work to take out Shan Masood, recovered to do the job. Up he hopped. So did the rest of Zimbabweans. Babar Azam sunk his chin into his palms.
The unthinkable had happened. Pakistan lost to Zimbabwe by just 1 run in a low scoring thriller. Chasing 131 runs, it looked to be a cakewalk for the Babar Azam-helmed team but losing wickets at regular interval and a majestic turn by Sikandar Raza, who took 3 wickets for just 25 runs, turned the game in the African nation’s favour.
After the match, Pakistan captain Babar Azam said, “Very disappointing batting my team. We were not up to the mark with batting. Unfortunately we got out in first six overs, and then unfortunately Shadab got out and then the back-to-back wickets and pressure built up. The first six overs we didn’t use the new ball well but later on we made up. 10 runs more to Zimbabwe. We will sit together, discuss mistakes, train hard and come back in the next game.
Zimbabwe skipper Craig Ervine said, “We didn’t want to end our tournament with qualification. We wanted to come and do well against top sides. After our batting performance, we thought we were 20 runs short. Our fast bowlers hit the strap. Raza came to the party as he always does and picked a few wickets. I think he has taken 3 man of the matches; I am going to be broke by the time I get home (laughs). I would like to thank the Zim supporters.”
Shadab holes out at long-off, doesn’t cross over and Raza stuns Haider for a duck
First, Sikandar Raza, who has remodelled his action with help from the West Indian Sunil Narine, teased out Shadab Khan, who had just hit a six, into another big hit and was pouched at long-off. Next ball, he carrom-flicked a ball that skidded on the middle, to trap the new batsman Haider Ali right in front. How the batsmen – Shadab and Shan Masood- didn’t cross over despite holing out at long-off would be questioned.
Sikandar Raza or Sunil Narine? How did the bowling action come about?
There is a lot of Sunil Narine in the way Sikandar Raza bowls these days. From holding the ball behind him as he jogs up and to the variations he attempts. It’s not a coincidence.
When he removed a malignant tumour after a bone marrow infection couple of years ago (at one stage he had feared it was cancerous), he had to make a hard decision: to quit bowling or change his action.
“I don’t think I have any other option. After those two surgeries, I lost a lot of strength in my shoulder. I couldn’t really get my hand up and when I did, I felt like there was not a lot of zip on the ball. The ball wasn’t coming out at a pace I wanted. Sunil [Narine] has played a huge role. I was at CPL and I was watching him very closely and bugging him, asking him a lot of questions,” Raza had then old ESPNCricinfo.
“Just being an offspinner without any variation is quite hard to survive white-ball cricket. That thought led to the variations and again Sunil has played a huge role as well. I met him at BPL and had a very good chat with him. And now to see some of the variations coming out of the hand really nicely is quite pleasing.”
Babar Azam goes, trying to work across the line again
Babar Azam was out trying to flick against India. He was trying to on-drive now against Zimbabwe. The right-arm seamer Brad Evan’s delivery landed middle and off and straightened a touch. Babar wasn’t looking to go too far across but more of a firm push to wide mid-on perhaps. But that straightening and the fact that he doesn’t really move much after setting up the initial base, trusting his hands to do the work means he was going to get squared-up a touch.
Mohammad Rizwan followed him soon after. Muzarabani got one to jag back in decent pace and Rizwan tried to chop it behind point but ended up chopping on to his stumps. He was pretty angry, and almost started his bat-swing towards the stumps before he restrained himself. And when Iftiqhar Ahmed feathered a catch down the leg side off Jongwe, Pakistan were 36 for 3 in 7.4 overs.
“Didn’t expect it as he’s dropped catches nowadays’! Shadab Khan trolls his captain Babar after a fabulous catch
When Babar Azam flung himself to his right at slip to take a blinder off Shadab Khan to dismiss Chakabva, no one seemed more surprised than the bowler. There was this wide-eyed laughter as he ran across to Babar, who had this sweet bemused expression at what he had just done.
At the end of the game, Shadab explained his on-field reaction. “Didn’t expect it because nowadays he’s missed chances a bit. That was a brilliant catch!”
Shadab also would say that Pakistan “has the best bowling attack in the world cup”. “Our fast bowlers are the best and they showed it today.”
Now we know why Wasim Akram and Aquib Javed wanted Mohammad Wasim Jr
Wasim Akram wanted him. So did Aquib Javed and Misbah-ul-Haq and we now know why. Mohammad Wasim jr starred against Zimbabwe with a three-wicket haul. “He can bowl and can whack too,” Wasim had told A Sports.
He is from Waziristan, a barren mountainous region framed by the Kurram river in the north, Gumal river in the south and by Afghanistan in the West. His father, who worked in Dubai and Punjab, was away most of the time and initially didn’t know that his son was interested in cricket. “Every time I would call, I would ask him about his school and studies, I had no idea he was into cricket,” the father Gul Mohammed once told the YouTube channel ‘Discover Pakistan’. “It was his uncle Shahnawaz who supported his cricket.”
“I was very happy when he was selected for Pakistan and would be really happy when he performs against India,” the father would say with a smile. “I like him when he bowls fast and also when he hits sixes.”
He didn’t get to play the game against India but would star against Zimbabwe, and at one stage even had a shot at a hattrick.
