ZIMBABWE TRIUMPHANT

In cool, damp conditions at Newlands, the young Zimbabwean team outplayed and out-thought Australia in every facet of the game winning by five wickets with one ball to spare. In what was the tightest and most nerve-wracking match of the tournament to date, Ponting won the toss and curiously batted on a pudding of a pitch. Canny bowling and excellent fielding saw Australia perennially on the back-foot and a measly 137/9 was accumulated from their allotted 20 overs.

Zimbabwe’s fielding was magnificent with every chance and half-chance taken. The out-fielding was slick and their enthusiasm for the contest was manifestly infectious. Most impressive was Man of the Match, 21 year old wicketkeeper Brendan Taylor, who set the standard with a flawless Healy-like display with the gloves. His stumping of Symonds was the work of a class cricketer and his presence over the bails to every bowler always had Australia nervous and tied to the crease.

The Zim bowling attack used the cool overcast early evening conditions to perfection, with the dibbly-dobs of veteran Gary Brent almost unplayable. Brent took the pace off the ball and bowled short of a length darting it off the seam both ways and Australia’s much-celebrated batsmen struggled to hit the ball off the square.

The conditions favoured the bowlers to such an extent that even former Test wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu had the ball swinging and seaming and beating the bat. Perhaps the Zimbabwean's incredible fielding display can be best summed up by the brilliant run-out of Hussey by the emerging talent of Vusimuzi Sibanda.

Hussey, who could not find the middle of the bat, mishit a late inswinging delivery into his pad and unsure where the ball had gone took a few exploratory steps down the wicket anticipating Symond’s call. In a flash, Sibanda had glided in from square-leg and in one movement dived, fielded the ball and under-armed the stumps down from 15 metres. Hussey was caught short of his ground and that fine piece of cricket was crucial in keeping the Australians under pressure.

Australia’s tail gave support to Brad Hodge and added some much needed runs with a lusty blow or three in the last few overs but when Bracken fell to another excellent piece of fielding from Sibanda off the last ball, most knew that 137 would not be enough.

Australia’s opening bowlers, Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken struggled to find the length early on and Sibanda ably supported by Taylor took advantage putting 31 on the board in the first three overs. Ponting quickly turned to Stuart Clark who instantly found the length and when rain intervened in the twelfth over Australia had clawed their way back into the contest and remarkably were ahead on the Duckworth/Lewis method despite Zimbabwe clearly playing the better cricket.

It would have been an injustice if Australia had won this match because of the weather and many expressed a sigh of relief when the covers came off after a 30 minute delay. An angry and frustrated Ponting berated his team during the break and after the disruption Australia threw everything at the inexperienced Zimbabweans but to no avail.

Mitchell Johnson bowled a hostile spell of short pitched deliveries that reminded the Zimbabweans that they were in a contest but Taylor, in his finest international performance to date, kept his team in the hunt, hitting two sixes from the bowling of Hodge and coolly creating two boundaries off the last over to guide his team home to an historic victory from the penultimate ball.

At match end, the Zimbabweans did the obligatory flag-waving lap-of-honour after beating Australia and there was much talk in post-match interviews of “giving the people back home something to smile about”. Credit must be given to the cold, wet and disappointed Australian team for fighting to the end and also for a fine example of sportsmanship at match end. They waited on the field for over 10 minutes while their opponents wildly celebrated so they could shake hands and extend the offer of a cold post-match beer.

Zimbabwe deserved to win and played some very solid, intelligent and at times brilliant cricket. To label the Australians arrogant or rusty is unwarranted and unfair to the young men from Zimbabwe. They played fantastically as individuals and as a team and thoroughly deserved their hard-fought victory. Australia will learn from this loss and perhaps will now treat the T20 format with the dillegence it seemingly deserves.

Ricky indicated as much when at match end he was asked what went wrong, “Aw look, we've just got to start respecting the game now. We were three for next to nothing in the practice matches too, it’s something we need to look at”.

Australia also lost their initial ODI against Zimbabwe way back at the 1983 World Cup and that win catapulted the small and chaotic African nation into the world’s elite. Almost a quarter century later we can only hope that this achievement at the inaugural World Twenty20 will give the Zim boys the belief, recognition and impetus to regain that treasured status.