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The beautiful game of cricket never fails to amaze everyone with rare and unbelievable stuff happening on the field every now and then. From batsmen hitting six sixes in an over to bowlers taking hattrick, the cricketers have a tendency to make some match-winning contribution with some heroic individual performances. But how often do we see a team coming together and combining to take 4 wickets in 4 balls?
The unreal sequence of events happened during the second T20I between Zimbabwe and Scotland, which was being played at Grange Cricket Club in Edinburgh on Friday. Having lost the first encounter of 3-match series, it was a do-or-die game for the visitors. After electing to bat first, they were in a state of bother with score reading 20/3 but Sean Williams' unbeaten 60-run knock guided Zimbabwe to a fighting total of 136/5 at the end of 20 overs.
Bowlers destroy Scotland's top order; home side fights back
Defending such a small target was never going to be easy for Craig Ervine's side. However, the team decided to not give up! Tendai Chatara and Richard Ngarva bowled a breath-taking opening spell with the new ball as they dismantled Scotland's top order, restricting them to 16/4 in 4.1 overs.
This is when Matthew Cross joined hands with Richie Berrington as the duo added 75 runs for the 5th wicket. Suddenly, the equation was in favour of the home side as Scotland needed 46 runs in last 6 overs with 5 wickets remaining.
Zimbabwe script an epic comeback in final few overs
Despite the game almost running away from them, the visitors did not lose hope. In the next few overs, both Berrington and Cross were dismissed and Zimbabwe were back in the game. With 13 runs required in the final over, left-arm spinner Wellington Masakadza was brought back into the attack and what happened next was quite dramatic. This is how events unfolded in the 20th over:
19.1 - Masakadza bowled a delivery wide of off stump and Safyaan Sharif mistimed his shot as the ball went towards the long off region where Ryan Burl completed a simple catch. Scotland - 124/7
19.2 - As the batsman had crossed each other, it was Michael Leask on strike for the next delivery. He could only manage to hit the ball towards long-on and called for a double. Sean Williams fired in a brilliant throw at the non-striker's end to run out Mark Watt. Scotland - 125/8
19.3 - Michael Liask was back on strike and he attempted to go for a huge hit once again. This time, he got a thick edge as the ball was caught brilliantly at the long-on boundary by a diving Sean Williams. Scotland - 125/9
19.4 - Alasdair Evans smashed the ball wide of long-on as the batsmen completed one run easily and thought of stealing the second run. As a result, there was a mix-up between the wickets. Regis Chakabva threw the ball and Evans was run out very comfortably in the end. Scotland 126/10
In a crazy sequence of events, Zimbabwe took 4 wickets in 4 balls to eventually win the match by 10 runs. The series has now been levelled 1-1 with the deciding contest set to be played on September 19, Sunday.