Thursday, 13th September 2007 at 7:53 am

Zimbabwe stun Australia

Older fans will remember 1983, and a famous World Cup win inspired by Duncan Fletcher; that was the last time that Zimbabwe had beaten Australia in a cricket match beyond the realm of a Sony Playstation. 24 long years… until one marvellous night at Newlands. After the high-octane start to the tournament on Tuesday night, this was a very different game of cricket, slow outfield and sluggish pitch not conducive to free scoring and big hitting - but providing the perfect platform for a great Zimbabwean triumph.

Neil Manthorpe, writing in the Cape Times on Tuesday morning, had suggested we wouldn’t be seeing ‘Matsikenyeri destroys Australia’ in the following morning’s headlines, and he was right - ‘Taylor destroys Australia’ is the legend spread across articles around the world after Tuesday night’s result. Better known for getting into trouble with Zimbabwean cricket authorities, Brendan Taylor had the night of his life, ‘keeping quite splendidly (the Symonds stumping had even Adam Gilchrist impressed), before anchoring the chase through the rain.

And when Nathan Bracken’s penultimate ball of the match nudged over the fine leg boundary to win the game for Zimbabwe, Newlands erupted with jubilant Zimbabweans, taking over the field with the relish of war veterans on a tobacco farm. Far more noble intent here, though: Australia beaten by a young, inexperienced team representing a troubled nation that rarely has anything to cheer. Australia might now miss out on the quarterfinals, and Zimbabwe could progress most unexpectedly; what ever happens from here in the Twenty20 World Cup, there won’t be a better result in the tournament.