Image Credit- ESPN CricInfo.
Venue- Newlands, Cape Town [September 12, 2007].
In 2007, South Africa hosted the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup. Everyone was excited for the same. Afterall no one knew much about the T20 format which was making its way in the international circuit. Interestingly the T20 World Cup got a great start in Johannesburg and now the action shifted to Cape Town wherein the World Champions Australia were facing Zimbabwe in the Group Stage Game. It was expected to be a one-sided affair. However, this is Cricket. Anything can happen anytime. Anyone can beat anyone on their day. And this is what happened on September 12, 2007. Defying all odds, Zimbabwe did the impossible. They defeated the Mighty Australians. How did the same happen? This Blog will tell you the same.
Australian Captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat first. However, the Aussies were reduced to 19/3 in 4 overs. Hayden, Gilchrist, Ponting all were back to the pavilion as Zimbabwe went for a kill. However, Andrew Symonds and Brad Hodge scored a gritty 33 and 35 as Aussies reached a total of 138/9 in their 20 overs. For Zimbabwe, Chigumbura and Brent took 3 and 2 wickets each.
A Target of 139 is considered an easy total today. But it was not that easy back then. Furthermore, the aggressive bowling combined with lethal fielding made 139 even tougher. The Men in Red started off pretty well but lost 3 quick wickets in between. The Zimbabwe Scorecard read 70/4 at the end of 11 overs as they still needed 69 runs to win. The game was on knife-edge. One more wicket and the Aussies would have demolished the remaining batting line-up.
This is when Brendan Taylor and Masakadza stitched a partnership of 53 runs and brought Zimbabwe back into the game. With 6 balls remaining, Zimbabwe needed 12 runs to win with 5 wickets in hand. This was further reduced to 4 from 2 as Taylor faced Bracken. Eventually in the penultimate ball of the game, Taylor scored a boundary and helped Zimbabwe secure a famous win over the Mighty Australians.
The Impossible Had Happened. The Zimbabweans have climbed the Everest.
For his remarkable 60* of 45 Balls, Brendan Taylor was awarded the Man of the Match Award.
Even though Zimbabwe failed to make its way in the Super 8. However, their win over Australia will always be remembered by Cricket Fans.
To watch the Highlights of that T20 Game, Click Here.
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