NEW DELHI: All-rounder Sikandar Raza sensationally picked up 3-25 against Pakistan in Perth on Thursday as Zimbabwe prevailed by one run in a final-ball thriller to register their first Super 12 win at the Twenty20 World Cup.
Floored by an extraordinary last-ball defeat to arch-rivals India in their opening match on Sunday, Pakistan find their tournament in tatters after, having restricted Zimbabwe to a modest 130-8 at Perth Stadium, reaching just 129-8 in reply.
Here is what players had to say after the match:
Craig Ervine (Zimbabwe skipper): So special. Especially for the work we did to get into the Super 12s. We did not want our tournament to end there. We wanted to come in and play some really good cricket against top teams and we did that exceptionally well today. I thought after our batting performance, we thought we were maybe 20-25 short, but I thought our seamers hit their straps early on. Raza again came to the party as he always does and picked up a few crucial wickets in the middle there. I think he's (Raza) got three Man of the Matches, so I'm gonna be broke by the time we get home. Also I want to thank the Zimbabwean supporters that came out today to support us. You guys really lift our spirits wherever we go, so special thanks.
Babar Azam (Pakistan skipper): We would have taken 130 at the halfway stage. Very disappointing performance, we are not up to the mark in batting. We have good batters but both openers got out in the powerplay. When Shadab and Shan were building a partnership, unfortunately Shadab got out and then back-to-back wickets that pushed us into pressure situation. First 6 overs, we didn't use the new ball well but we finished well with the ball. We will sit out, discuss our mistakes and we will train hard and come back strong in our next game.
Sikandar Raza (Player of the Match):
I am lost for words, my mouth's dry probably because of the emotions I am going through at the moment. I can't tell you how proud I'm of this bunch of boys. The way our seamers started at the top, was just unbelievable and the way we backed it up in the field and the way we kept believing, really lost for words. When we were coming to Australia, I said to my captain (Ervine), If you become Man of the Match, pick any watch from the catalogue and I'll buy you that. But if I win the Man of the Match (award), you're going to buy me one. I was reminding him that he owes me three watches now. I was excited today, and I watched this clip by Ricky Ponting earlier in the morning, and that motivated me to come up with this performance. I would like to thank Ricky Ponting for that.
