On Friday, Zimbabwe shocked Pakistan by winning the second Twenty20 International (T20I) by 19 runs at the Harare Sports Club. This was Zimbabwe’s first-ever win in the format against Pakistan, and it came when defending a modest total of 119 against a formidable batting line-up that included Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, and Mohammad Rizwan, among others. As Zimbabwe levelled the three-match series at 1-1, Pakistan bowled out for 99 with their full power team.
After a dismal batting display by the rest of the batting unit, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam (41 off 45 balls) scored almost half of the runs for his team, but they still failed to reach the target. Just two other Pakistani players, apart from their captain, were able to reach double figures.
Though Pakistani fans were outraged by their team’s bad batting performance, cricket fans from around the world couldn’t believe what they had just seen and turned the event into a meme-fest.
Pakistan had taken the toss and elected to bat, and their bowlers got them off to a good start by limiting Zimbabwe to 118/9 in their 20 overs. On a difficult batting pitch, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe top-scored for the hosts, hitting 34 off 40 balls, while no other batsman got past the 20-run mark. Mohammad Hasnain and Danish Aziz each took two wickets, while the remaining wickets were shared by five bowlers.
In response, Pakistan’s middle order gave up and crumbled like a deck of cards, handing Zimbabwe a stunning win. Luke Jongwe was Zimbabwe’s wrecker in chief, taking four wickets, including the vital wicket of Pakistan captain Babar Azam. He finished with figures of 4/18 in 3.5 overs and was named Player of the Match for his match-winning performance.