ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Zimbabwe stun Pakistan by 1 run; Sikandar Raza thanks Ricky Ponting for 'little push'
Sikandar Raza stars as Zimbabwe stun Pakistan by one run in a thrilling ICC T20 World Cup 2022 encounter at Perth on Thursday.
FollowVeteran all-rounder Sikandar Raza starred in Zimbabwe's thrilling 1-run win against Pakistan in their nail-biting ICC T20 World Cup 2022 encounter at Perth on Thursday. Opting to bat after winning the toss, Zimbabwe scored 130/8. Shan Masood top-scored with 44 off 38 balls, but Pakistan fell short in the end as they failed to score the three runs required for victory in the last ball of the match.
Sikandar Raza was Zimbabwe’s most successful bowler with 3/25, while Brad Evans picked up two wickets for 25 runs.
Player of the Match Sikandar Raza revealed that legendary Australian captain Ricky Ponting had a role to play in his performance against Babar Azam's men in the post-match presentation.
"There was a small clip sent to me this morning of Ricky Ponting having a small word. I was excited, I was nervous, I was thrilled about today. The motivation was always there but if I needed a little push, I thought that clip did a wonder so thanks very much to Ricky as well," revealed the Zimbabwe star.
Talking about the thrilling encounter, Raza added, "I think I'm lost for words. My throat's dry, probably because of all the emotions. I can't tell you how proud I am of this bunch of boys. The way our seamers started at the top as well is just unbelievable and the way we backed it up in the field and the way we kept believing, I don't think there's any words I can share right now."
Raza also shared the reason behind his wrist tapping signal to captain Craig Ervine. "When we were coming to Australia, I said to my captain, 'If you become Man of the Match, pick any watch from the catalogue and I'll buy you. But if I win Man of the Match, then you're gonna buy me one. So I'm just reminding him that you now owe me three watches now actually. One more thing I thought," the Zimbabwe all-rounder stated.
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Brief scores:
Zimbabwe: 130/8 in 20 overs (Sean Williams 31; Shadab Khan 3/23, Mohammad Wasim 4/24).
Pakistan: 129/8 in 20 overs (Shan Masood 44; Sikandar Raza 3/25, Brad Evans picked 2/25).
