Zimbabwe pulled off a stunning one-run win over Pakistan on Thursday to put the Asian giants in danger of an early exit from the Twenty20 World Cup. The excitement dragged till the last minute as Zimbabwe floored a last-ball win with Pakistan's Shaheen Afridi losing his wicket at the last moment. And with that, Zimbabwe, which managed 130-8 after electing to bat first, choked Pakistan to 129-8 for a memorable win in Perth.
Opting to bat first, Zimbabwe got off to a flyer after openers Craig Ervine and Wesley Madhevere punished the Pakistani bowlers for erring with their line and lengths early in the inning. The pacers were not on the money and either bowled too full or wide, which the openers cashed in on, smacking 38 runs off the first four overs.
Pakistan's chase got off to a rocky start, squeezed at 36-3 in the eighth over with the world's top-ranked T20 batsman, Mohammed Rizwan, back in the dugout for 14 having chopped a delivery from two-metre tall Blessing Muzarabani (1-18) on to his stumps.
It was left to Shaan Masood to steady the ship with a composed 44, regularly exploiting the large outfield to run twos. But Raza further pegged back the Asian side with his off-spin, having Masood stumped off a wide.
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.
Sean Williams was the highest scorer for Zimbabwe with 31 off 28 balls.
A few Zimbabwe batters got starts, but could not translate them into substantial scores.
Mohammad Wasim was the most successful bowler for Pakistan, returning with fine figures of 4/24 from his four overs, and leg-spinner Shadab Khan was also excellent with the ball and picked up 3/23 in his quota of four overs.