A stunning spell of five wickets from Ryan Burl, followed by a wonderful captain’s innings of 37 not out from Regis Chakabva, steered Zimbabwe to their first ever victory over Australia in their own backyard in the third and final one-day international at Riverway Stadium in Townsville on Saturday.
The tourists bowled out the home side for 141 and then fought all the way to chase down their target with three wickets and 11 overs in hand.
Historic win for Zimbabwe 🙌
Their first ever ODI victory against the hosts in Australia 👏#AUSvZIM pic.twitter.com/Z6gfI0dwSS
— ICC (@ICC) September 3, 2022
After the victory, Zimbabwe’s efforts were showered in praise by the cricketing fraternity. Here are a few of them:
Outstanding win for @ZimCricketv over @CricketAus in the 3rd ODI in Townsville! @ryanburl3 with 5/10 and skipper Regis Chakabva leading them home! An historic first ODI win on Australian soil! Well played ZIMBABWE! @MawoyoTinotenda 🇿🇼
— Alan Wilkins (@alanwilkins22) September 3, 2022
Wow @ZimCricketv , that is some result! More signs that you are looking up.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 3, 2022
Wow! Feels good when an underdog does well.
Zimbabwe beating a full strength Australian side in Australia. Not that anywhere else would have been lesser, but at home beating Australia has to be
One of the biggest upsets in history of ODI cricket. Well done Zimbabwe. #AusVsZim pic.twitter.com/PeYDBUpi65— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) September 3, 2022
Zimbabwe star Sikandar Raza was in a celebratory mood after the win, tweeting:
This country 🇿🇼
This team @ZimCricketv
These Fans
And @ryanburl3
That’s the tweet!Taaaaaaaaawinaaaaaaaaaaaa#Alhamdulillah #AusVsZim #CricketTwitter #cricket #VisitZimbabwe pic.twitter.com/i5nQPUzAdB
— Sikandar Raza (@SRazaB24) September 3, 2022
The ODI victory will undoubtedly come as a major boost for Zimbabwe as they amp up the preparation for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. It will be back to the drawing board for the hosts though, who will look to improve upon their performance.
