Zimbabweans stuff the Kangaroos
Taylor made for victory:
CRICKET: Australian captain Ricky Ponting admitted to being
embarrassed after his team's stunning loss to Zimbabwe in their first
match of the inaugural World Cup Twenty20 tournament at Newlands on
Wednesday.
Australia scored a modest 138-9 after choosing to bat first and
Zimbabwean opener Brendan Taylor anchored the African side to a
thrilling win by five wickets with just one ball remaining.
Ponting said: "Yes, of course I am embarrassed and so we should be. A
lot of Australians back home right now will be feeling the same way.
It's not often I've walked off a cricket field feeling that way but if
you go into our (changing) rooms right now you'll find that everyone
else is feeling the same way.
"Our batting just wasn't good enough. We were 19-3 and that's where
we lost it. It was the same in the practice matches. But we have no
excuses whatsoever. They did just about everything better than we did
today and we were outplayed, it's as simple as that. We were not good
enough."
Taylor was stunned to hear that Ponting had singled him out as an
example of how he would like his own top order to play in 20-over
cricket.
"That's an amazing compliment, amazing," said the 21-year-old. "We
all try to model ourselves on the way they play. They are our role
models, not the other way round.
Zimbabwe play their second group match against England at the same
venue just 24-hours later, on Thursday. Coach Robin Brown had a simple
message for his young giant killers.
"I just asked them to hold off the celebrations until Thursday night
after they've beaten England. Then they can give it a full go." The
Australian defeat echoed another embarrassment in Cardiff in 2005 when
they lost a 50-over match to Bangladesh, also by five wickets.
CAPE TOWN, Thursday, Reuters
ZIMBABWE
V. Sibanda c Gilchrist b Bracken 23
B. Taylor not out 60
C. Chibhabha c Gilchrist b Clark 15
T. Taibu c Gilchrist b Johnson 0
S. Matsikenyeri c Gilchrist b Clark 3
H. Masakadza lbw b Lee 27
E. Chigumbura not out 4
Extras: (w-3, lb-4) 7
TOTAL: (five wickets 19.5 overs) 139
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-31, 2-54, 3-55,
4-70, 5-123.
DID NOT BAT: K. Dabengwa, P. Utseya, G. Brent, T. Mupariwa.
BOWLING: Lee 4-0-31-1 (2w), Bracken 3.5-0-25-1, Clark 4-0-22-2,
Johnson 4-0-26-1 (1w), Symonds 2-0-11-0, Hodge 2-0-20-0.
AUSTRALIA
A. Gilchrist c Matsikenyeri b Chigumbura 4
M. Hayden c Taylor b Chigumbura 4
R. Ponting c Chigumbura b Brent 8
A. Symonds st Taylor b Masakadza 33
M. Hussey run out 15
B. Hodge not out 35
B. Haddin c Chigumbura b Utseya 6
B. Lee b Brent 12
M. Johnson run out 9
N. Bracken c Sibanda b Chigumbura 4
Extras (w-6, b-2) 8
TOTAL: (nine wickets, 20 overs) 138
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-7, 2-12, 3-19,
4-48, 5-86, 6-102,
7-119, 8-134, 9-138.
DID NOT BAT: S. Clark.
BOWLING: Chigumbura 3-0-20-3, Brent 4-0-19-2 (2w), Mupariwa 3-0-23-0 (3w),
Chibhabha 3-0-17-0 (1w), Utseya 4-0-28-1, Taibu 2-0-20-0,
Masakadza 1-0-9-1.
Result: Zimbabwe win by five wickets
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