This match had more twist and turns than any daily soap opera on Indian television. West Indies needed just 4 runs in six balls with 5 wickets in hands, at the crease was the skipper Jason Holder and the hero of the T20 World Cup 2016 final, Carlos Braithwaite. All were waiting to see whether Holder will finish the game or whether Braithwaite will finish it with a six but with every succeeding delivery, the situation became more complex rather than being solved.
Donald Tiripano, who was given the job to save just four runs in the last over did a perfect job helping his team to trump and hand them one of the biggest upsets. The curiosity of the game went till the last ball of the day like mystery in any James bond movie as hopes of West Indies were alive till the last ball but a lame and tame, more of an irresponsible batting effort, in the end, was enough to keep West Indies at bay. There was an open loss for West Indies which was glittering in this tied game.
Asked to chase a target if 258 in 50 overs, West indies had a decent star with openers piling up 33 runs for the first wicket. Despite losing wickets on regular basis, West Indies was always in a race to chase the target but a vague attitude, in the end, cost them. Shai Hope scored a century but his efforts were in vain.
For Zimbabwe, Craig Ervine and Sikandar Raza were the stars with the bat as both of them shared 144 runs for the third wicket before Zimbabwe ended their innings on 257. All the batting efforts could have been worthless if Tiripano would not have trumped West Indies in last over.
This match will go down in the memory lane, probably as the best match, they have participated in till now. Despite none fo the team emerging as a clear winner, in the end, fans got full value for their money today.
Zimbabwe will face Sri Lanka n the nxt game at the same ground. They have to win that game so as to keep their hopes alive as West Indies is still on the top by virtue of defeating Sri Lana by a bonus point in their previous game.