Zimbabwe humbled defending World Twenty20 champions Pakistan with a 12-run win in their final warm-up in St Lucia.
Zimbabwe, who defeated Australia by one run earlier in the week, made 143-7 from their 20 overs, with big-hitting Elton Chigumbura smashing 49 not out from 35 balls to rescue his team from a precarious 64-5 in the 12th over. Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi shone with the ball taking 4-24.
Kamran Akmal hit 37 from 27 balls as Pakistan started their reply, but they were in deep trouble at 67-5 after 10 overs.
Fawad Alam and Misbah-ul-Haq added 51 in 7.4 overs for the sixth wicket, before spinner Prosper Utseya turned the game around for the Africans, getting rid of both on his way to figures of 4-15 in four overs.
Pakistan finished on 131, with Chigumbura also starring with the ball, claiming 3-16 in three overs.
In Thursday’s other warm-up games, Australia recovered from their defeat to Zimbabwe by crushing the Windward Islands by 101 runs, also in St Lucia.
David Warner hit 51, his second successive half-century, and David Hussey made 49 as Australia piled up 189-8 off their 20 overs, before the Windwards were dismissed for just 88.
In Barbados, England defeated South Africa by five wickets. South Africa were limited to 125-5 off their 20 overs, before Eoin Morgan top-scored with 63 from 62 balls to lead England to victory after they had been reeling at 9-3.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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