T20 World Cup 2022: [Watch] Babar Azam plucks an absolute blinder as Pakistan storms back against Zimbabwe
Pakistan triggered a stunning collapse at Perth as Zimbabwe lost four wickets for zero runs in less than two overs, stumbling from 95-4 to 95-7. In the midst of the maddening five minutes, Babar Azam plucked an absolute blinder at first slip to dismiss Regis Chakabva.
After a blistering start for the Chevrons, Pakistan pulled things back in the middle overs, with Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams steading the ship for their side. Shadab Khan got the better of Williams before dismissing Chakabva, courtesy of some brilliance from his captain.
You can see the catch right here:
The leg-spinner was denied a hat-trick because it was the last two deliveries of his spell. Mohammad Wasim Jr. delivered another double whammy in the very next over. He dismissed Raza and Luke Jongwe in consecutive deliveries as the Men in Green roared back into the contest.
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Zimbabwe looked like they could put a challenging total on the board at one stage but the procession of wickets completely derailed their innings.
Mohammad Wasim Jr comes good on the selection call made by Pakistan
After suffering a gut-wrenching loss against their arch-rivals in their tournament opener, Pakistan made one change today. Making a brave call, the team management dropped Asif Ali, a batter from the middle order, replacing him with an extra pacer in Mohammad Wasim Jr.
It's not hard to reason why the team management made the change. After having to rely on Mohammad Nawaz for the final over against India, the inclusion of another pacer gives the captain another option with the ball.
In his first game of the tournament, Wasim paid instant dividends as the pacer registered his best figures in T20Is to bag 4 wickets for 24 runs. Haris Rauf also registered his best figures in T20Is with figures of 1/12, while Shadab Khan also impressed with figures of 3/23.
Zimbabwe finished with 130/8 at the end of 20 overs. Babar Azam's side will need 131 runs to win.