Twitter Reactions: Luke Jongwe’s four-fer gives Zimbabwe historic T20I win against Pakistan

After missing out on a win in the opening T20I, Zimbabwe made amends in the second game at the Harare Sports Club. Brendan Taylor and Co beat Pakistan by 19 runs to draw the equalizer in the three-match series. All Pakistan could manage was 99 runs in 19.5 overs. For the home team, it was a moment of pride and jubilation as they rolled over the former no.1 ranked T20I team.

Zimbabwe slump to an under-par score

After being out in to bat first, the hosts strained and could only manage 118 in their 20 overs. Tinashe Kamunhukamwe top-scored for them, but even his 40-ball 34 with four fours came at a strike rate of 85. He perished to Danish Aziz in the 13th over, leaving Zimbabwe at 68 for three.

Tadiwanshe Marumani, Wesley Madhevere, Regis Chakabva and Tarisai Musakanda got into double digits, but none could go on to score big. For Pakistan, Aziz and Hasnain picked up two wickets each. Faheem Ashraf, Arshad Iqbal, Haris Rauf and Usman Qadir accounted for one wicket each.

Jongwe shows his calibre

In the run-chase, Pakistan failed to gain much momentum. In the powerplay, they managed only 26 runs and lost the wicket of Mohammad Rizwan. His opening partner, Babar Azam, scored 41 runs off 45 balls with five fours. But once, Babar got out to Luke Jongwe, things went downhill for Pakistan.

Aziz got 22 runs, but apart from him, Azam and Rizwan, no other visitors’ batter could reach the double-digit mark. Jongwe went on to pick up four wickets and also bagged the Player of the Match award. Leg-spinner Ryan Burl picked up two wickets of Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Hafeez.

Babar and Taylor react

Babar, the Pakistan skipper, rued his team’s poor show with the bat. “We played poor cricket in the batting department. Credit to Zimbabwe for playing good cricket. The surface was stopping a bit and was two-paced.

“But it’s no excuse, we’re professionals and need to deal with it. Hopefully, we will come back strong in the next game,“ Babar said after the game.

Taylor, on the contrary, was a happy man after Zimbabwe’s comeback in the game. “Big turnaround from the first game and that’s all that you can ask of your players. They executed the plans superbly.

“I’d be lying if I say that I was confident (of defending 118) but we dug deep in the powerplay. We managed to squeeze Pakistan, and our commitment and dedication helped us get over the line,“ Taylor said.

Here’s how the netizens reacted to Zimbabwe’s triumph: