5 times Zimbabwe caused an upset in T20Is on the world stage
18th June, 2016 - Zimbabwe vs India at the Harare Sports Club, the first of 3 T20 Internationals. This was expected to be a one sided affair, the Indians expected to romp home after absolutely annihilating the Zimbabweans in the recently concluded ODI series. There was another story to be written however, as Zimbabwe emerged victorious after a heroic showing.
Here, we recount 5 of their most famous T20I wins when they upset the giants of the International game:
1) Zimbabwe v India, Harare, 18th June 2016
In a remarkable game of T20 cricket, Zimbabwe recorded a 2 run win over India. Incredible scenes ensued as Neville Madziva uprooted a stump, ran to his fans and let emotion take over.
After a forgettable ODI series, this was an inspired performance from the Zimbabwean team.
Having won the toss, Mahendra Singh Dhoni elected to bowl. Hamilton Masakadza got his team off to a blistering start, smashing 25 off 15, Sikandar Raza and Malcolm Waller stitched together a good 47 run partnership in the middle. However, It was Elton Chigumbura who made the difference with a special 26 ball 54 towards the fag end of the innings lifting his team to 170.
Defending the total, Zimbabwe got off to a dream start, dismissing KL Rahul on the very first ball of the innings. His opening partner, Mandeep Singh produced a few great looking shots as he got to 31. Manish Pandey accelerated at the right stage, he lost his wicket cheaply though, falling 2 runs short of his first International Twenty 20 fifty. Axar Patel came in and smashed the ball all over the park, with a cameo of 18 runs.
The job was nearly done as India needed a mere 8 runs off the last over to record a win. Neville Madziva was trusted with the ball in the final over, and he produced a special over, conceding a mere 5 runs to clinch the match for his team.