- Bowling Meets Batting: Najam Sethi Hails HBL PSL 2023 Pitches - March 20, 2023
- Setting Aside Rivalry: Afridi and Gambhir’s Newfound Respect - March 18, 2023
- The Lost Glory ft. Sarfaraz Ahmed - March 15, 2023
This World Cup 2022 essentially has been a tournament of surprises because it included numerous miracles and upsets. It is inevitable that World Cups will have upsets. We see at least one or two upsets every World Cup as underdogs triumph over goliaths. Who can forget Zimbabwe’s thrashing of Australia at the 2007 first-ever T20I World Cup?
An Australian side that features some greats.15 years later, as many as six upsets have occurred at the World Cup, putting the competitiveness of the top nations into question. Due to these upsets, we have also witnessed some miracles in this world cup, which affect the teams’ qualification.
World Cup upsets so far.
This World Cup has seen a number of upsets at various phases of the competition.
Upsets in First Round:
Namibia beat Sri Lanka: This World Cup started with an unexpected victory by Namibia over Sri Lanka in the opening game. where Namibia thrashed Sri Lanka by 55 runs, defeating the reigning champs. For Namibia, Jan Frylinck scorched down the order as they produced a respectable 163/7. The Namibian bowlers, led by David Wiese (2/16), pooled their efforts to dismiss the Lankan tigers for just 108 runs in response. It was merely a teaser of what was to come!
Scotland beat West Indies: West Indies, the two-time World Champions, were gunned by Scotland in the third match of the competition. George Munsey’s unbroken 66 helped the Scots reach 160/5. When the Windies entered the chase for a challenging goal, they were left perplexed as they were bowled out for 118. As the Calypso boys’ careless batting staged another defeat, Scotland was headed by Mark Watt (3/12) and Michael Leask (2/15).
Ireland beat West Indies: As if the West Indies’ loss to Scotland wasn’t bad enough, they were eliminated from the T20 World Cup 2022 at the qualifying stage itself after losing to Ireland. This prevented them from moving on to the Super 12. Ireland’s solitary effort gave them the victory by 9 wickets, as they reached the target with 15 balls still to spare. a little dominance! The Windies couldn’t handle their best three players, Paul Sterling (66*), Andy Balbirnie (37), and Lorcan Tucker (45*). then miracles occur, and two-time winners are eliminated!
Also Read: How in the world did Pakistan qualify for the Semi-Finals?
Upsets in Super 12:
Ireland beat England: Ireland upset tournament favourites and neighbours England this time, proving they were back in the Super 12 stage for business! However, they get benefited from the weather this time as they prevailed by five runs (DLS method), but a win is a win! With 62 runs, captain Balbirnie led his team to 157 runs.
Because of the impending rain, the Irish bowlers kept things tight. Josh Little took two wickets as England’s batters waited too long to slam the ball over the line. Right before play was halted by rain, Barry McCarthy removed Dawid Malan (35), and England’s chances of winning were over. A renowned victory for Ireland!
Zimbabwe beat Pakistan: In a World Cup where the associate nations, or underdogs, challenged the major powers, it was up to a resurgent Zimbabwe to change the course of events. defending a score of 130 runs, which is not very high. The Pakistani openers were bowled out in the first five overs by Zimbabwe’s pacers. With a 44-run partnership, Shan Masood and Shadab Khan stabilized the innings.
However, Sikander Raza and Brad Evans’ excellent bowling resulted in Pakistan needing ten from the final over. Nawaz is caught by Evans, with Pakistan needing three runs from one ball in the penultimate over. To give Zimbabwe a one-run victory, Raza and keeper Chakabva ran out Shaheen Shah Afridi as he attempted to grab a second. courtesy of another upset!
Netherlands Beat South Africa: Undoubtedly, that was the biggest upset of the 2022 T20I World Cup. The Proteas were predicted to cruise through the Netherlands since the outcome of the match would have a significant impact on Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India, who were in the same group as them.
It was yet another game that South Africa ought to have won, but they once again found themselves on the losing end of the rope. The Netherlands added 158/4 thanks to Colin Ackermann’s valiant innings (41* off 26). However, South Africa’s demise was sealed by Glover, Leede, and Klassen, who held them to just 145/8 at the end of the innings. and the tag of CHOKERS stays with South Africa.
World Cup 2022: Miracle, Miracle, Miracle!!
No one expected Pakistan’s team to reach the semifinals following their two early losses and given South Africa’s recent world cup performance. The only scenario left for Pakistan to qualify required South Africa or India to lose at least one match, but that was just a scenario, and cricket experts also said it was impossible for Pakistan to qualify.
However, on Sunday, the Netherlands defeated South Africa, and a miracle occurred. The infamous chokers South Africa once again choked in an essential game that helped Pakistan advance to the Semi-Final, where Pakistani Openers outclassed Kiwis bowlers and confirmed their place in the Final after 13 years.
Read More:
