Zimbabwe stunned Pakistan in a last-ball thriller in the T20 World Cup at Perth on Thursday, October 27. Zimbabwe's tenacious team kept their nerve to protect 11 runs in the final over against Pakistan.
Pakistan hitters failed to score three runs in the final three deliveries against pacer Brad Evans. Zimbabwe scored a remarkable triumph over heavyweights Pakistan, who had played in the tournament's semi-finals the previous year.
Zimbabwe's miracle win was led by spin all-rounder Sikander Raza who picked three crucial wickets on the day to break Pakistan batting order's back. Raza removed Shan Masood, Shadab Khan and Haider Ali in quick succession. An emotional Raza walked out in the post match interview after winning the Man of the match award nd said that his throat dried up from all the emotions.
"I am lost my words. I have lost those in these emotions. It was a hell of a match. I don't have any words to describe those. I can't express how proud I am of this group of boys. The way our seamers started at the top and the way we backed it up in the field and kept believing, I don't think there are any words I can say right now. The way we did that on the field and with the ball, it has been a sensational pull-off," Raza said, almost choking up on his words.
"When I was on the flight to Australia, I said to my players we can do this. I reminded the captain that he owed me three watches. I was excited today, and I saw this Ricky Ponting clip earlier in the morning, which inspired me to come up with this performance. Ricky Ponting deserves credit for this," he concluded his speech.
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Raza’s journey from Pakistan to opening the batting for Zimbabwe, via Scotland, is a curious one.
Born in Sialkot, Pakistan
Sikandar Raza was born on 24 April 1986 in the north-eastern region of Pakistan. In 2002, he immigrated to Zimbabwe with his family. But it took 9 years to get citizenship there. He got this right in 2011. From the age of 11, he wanted to become an Air Force pilot. Raza also studied at Pakistan’s Air Force School, but failed the vision test (eye test) and the dream was shattered.
Started playing cricket by going to England
Sikandar Raza is a software engineer. He started playing cricket while studying at Glasgow University in Scotland. In 2007, he started playing first-class matches for the Norse side. When his studies were completed in 2010-11, Raza had decided that he wanted to become a professional cricketer.
Identity found against India only
Sikandar Raza got real recognition in world cricket after Kamal in the match against India. During India’s tour of Zimbabwe in 2013, he scored 82 runs, which included 6 fours and 2 sixes. This was only his fourth ODI match. At one time it was believed that consistency was the biggest weakness of this super classic batsman and today he has made it his strength.
Top pefromer from the first round of the T20 World Cup 2022
Sikander Raza stood out for Zimbabwe in the three matches he played so far. He was simply sensational in the opening match against Ireland demonstrating great hitting abilities with a quickfire 82 off 48 balls with 5 fours and 5 sixes that helped Zimbabwe to post 174 for 7 in 20 overs.
With the ball, he had one wicket giving away 22 runs. Zimbabwe won the match by 31 runs. Sikander Raza was named the player of the match award for 82 off 48 balls and 1 for 22.
In the final league match against Scotland, Sikander Raza provided the impetus for Zimbabwe with a quickfire 40 off 23 balls and helped Zimbabwe recover from a tough situation. Raza was named the player of the match for his quickfire 40 and 1 for 20 in 4 overs.
Zimbabwe's win over Pakistan puts the Babar Azam side in a precarious position as they run the risk of getting knocked out of the tournament after back to back losses against India and Zimbabwe.
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