Zimbabwe outplayed the former T20 World Cup winners in all three departments of the game to win their second fixture against them in the history of the tournament.
AUS vs ZIM: The Batting
Batting first, Zimbabwe got off to a good start with both openers playing some intelligent cricket in the first six overs. Although they did not hit a single six in that phase of the innings, they were able to find gaps on a regular basis, which kept the Australian fielders on their toes.
The pair of Tadiwanashe Marumani and Brian Bennett added 61 runs for the first wicket in 7.3 overs, with the former being the more aggressive of the two as he scored 35 runs off just 21 balls, including seven fours.
AUS vs ZIM: The Partnership
As far as Bennett is concerned, the better held one end with Ryan Burl, who came in to bat at number three, taking the aggressive route and keeping the Australian bowlers under pressure. The duo stitched a 70-run partnership for the second wicket as Bennett notched up a well crafted half century, staying unbeaten on 64.
AUS vs ZIM: The Bowling
If we talk about the performance of Australia’s bowling lineup, which appears to be quite depleted, it did well to pull things back in the final five overs after going for theruns in thefirst two phases of the Zimbabwean batting innings.
The revival was led by Nathan Ellis who courtesy of his variations made clearing the boundaries which was big in size difficult for the batters and was well supported by other bowlerrs like Adam Zampa and Marcus Stoinis who before picking up an injury gave away just 17 runs in 2.5 overs and picked up one wicket which helped Australia in restrict the opposition to a score of 169 runs.
AUS vs ZIM: The Chase
Chasing 170 runs to win on a slow track, Australia never really got going, losing four wickets with just 29 runs on the board, with the Zimbabwean bowlers making full use of some good bowling conditions by mixing their lengths and using the short and length balls effectively.
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AUS vs ZIM: The Rebuild
The onus was now on Maxwell, who got the company of Matt Renshaw to get the Australian innings back on track, and they did that by adding 77 runs for the fifth wicket before Maxwell was dismissed in an attempt to take the aerial route.
Zimbabwe was quick enough to seize on the opportunity despite Renshaw holding one end as the bowlers kept on taking wickets from the other, making it hard for the set batter to unleash.
AUS vs ZIM: The Final Act
Renshaw’s dismissal after scoring 65 runs of 44 balls meant that Zimbabwe had the upper hand in the match courtesy of Blessing Muzarabai, who was the pick of the bowlers for his team, finishing with figures of 4 for 17, and waswell supported by the likes of Brad Evans, Gream Creemer and Wellington Masakadza.
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