Capetown, Sept 12: Zimbabwe scored an incredible 5 wicket win over Australia to display the first major upset of the Twenty20 World Cup. Zimbabwean wicketkeeper batsman Brendon Taylor shined both behind and in front of the wickets as he made his first International Twenty20 half century. His fifty came in style and in just 38 balls.
Australia were all but mighty against the Zimbabweans as they lost one too many wickets earlier on in the innings. And they were equally lacklustre on the field as the players were involved in too many misfields and overthrows.
A depleted Australian side after winning the toss and opting to bat could manage just 138 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in twenty overs.
Australia were sent into tizzy as they lost their top batsmen to some brilliant bowling and fielding display by Zimbabwe. The Australians were moving so slow that their run rate read 5.1 rpo in 10 overs.
The wickets started tumbling right from the start as Elton Chigumbura dismissed Matthew Hayden in the first over. Hayden edged an outside off delivery from Chigumbura straight into the hands of wicketkeeper Brendon Taylor.
Stuart Matsikinyeri then grabbed a miscued shot from Adam Gilchrist to give Chigumbara another wicket. Australia lost their second wicket in the third over.
Australia then lost two more batsmen in quick succession. Hussey and Symonds tried to steady things at Newlands but they too failed. Michael Hussey was soon dismissed as he was run out on a direct hit from Vusi Sibanda.
Wicketkeeper Brendon Taylor stumped Andrew Symonds as Australian score read a terrible 86 for 5. And just as they crossed the 100 run mark in the 16th over, Brad Haddin fell victim to an excellent bowling display by Chamunorwa Chibhabha. Haddin made 6 runs from 12 balls.
Things worsened further for Australia as Brett Lee was then clean bowled by Gary Brent in the 18th over. Lee though, hammered a magnificent six and made 13 runs.
Then in the last over of the innings there was another mix up between the two Australian batsmen. Mitchell Johnson then fell ruefully short of his crease as Taylor dislodged the stumps at the batsman’s end.
Zimbabwe on the other hand began their chase confidently with their openers hammering the ball in right directions to keep the momentum high.
Vusimusi Sibanda who was playing well became the first victim as he was dismissed in the 4th over. Sibanda’s run torrent came to an end as he edged a delivery from Nathan Bracken into the hands of wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist. Sibanda made 24 runs from 16 balls.
Chamunorwa Chibhabha too was caught while trying to hit the ball over the top. He made 15 runs from 14 balls.
Tatenda Taibu soon after made his way back as he too edged the ball to the wicketkeeper Gilchrist. Taibu departed on duck and wasted 6 deliveries.
Stuart Matsikinyeri then became the fourth Zimbabwean victim as he too edged the ball that went high up in the air to settle into the hands of Gilchrist. Matsikinyeri made 3 runs.
Rain then interrupted the proceedings for a while with Australia marrying their chances as Duckworth Lewis favoured them. But soon the rain stopped and Zimbabwe with their set strategy outshone the better team.
Earlier, Australian skipper Ricky Ponting won the toss and decided to bat first against Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean captain Prosper Utseya however was satisfied with the decision as he said that he himself would have bowled first.
Team
Zimbabwe:
Prosper Utseya, Gary Brent, Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Elton Chigumbura, Keith Dabengwa, Hamilton Masakadza, Stuart Matsikinyeri, Tawanda Mupariwa, Vusimusi Sibanda, Tatenda Taibu, Brendon Taylor
Australia
Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Andrew Symonds, Mike Hussey, Brad Hodge, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Brett Lee.
