Top 5 upsets in the history of the 20-20 World Cup

20-20 World Cup: (Image Source: Twitter)

The 20-20 World Cup 2022 is currently underway in Australia with 12 teams being divided into two groups of six teams each. All the teams are fighting it hard to secure a spot in the semi-final.

More than the opposition, rain has proved to be a major concern for the teams. A lot of matches in the tournament have been abandoned due to rain. Having said that, the fans have also witnessed several mouth-watering clashes in the tournament as well. A lot of weak teams have managed to beat the big sides and caused upsets.

Recently, Zimbabwe beat Pakistan by just 1 run to create history in the 20-20 World Cup. Earlier, Namibia also beat Sri Lanka in the first round of the competition.

On that note, we take a look at five major upsets in the history of the 20-20 World Cup:

5. Afghanistan beat West Indies by 6 runs in the 2016 World Cup

Afghanistan vs West Indies: (Image Source: Twitter)

West Indies enjoyed a successful outing in the 2016 20-20 World Cup. They were nothing short of outstanding with both bat and ball and outplayed every opposition that they played against. However, they lost one match in the tournament and that was against Afghanistan.

Samuel Badree bowled a sensational spell of 3 for 14 in that game and helped West Indies restrict Afghanistan to 123 runs in the first innings. Najibullah Zadran starred with the bat for Afghanistan, scoring an unbeaten 48 off 40 but there was little contribution from the other batters.

Despite posting a low score, it was enough for Afghanistan’s bowling unit to defend it. The bowlers kept chipping in with wickets in short intervals and denied West Indies to stitch a single big partnership. In the end, West Indies fell 6 runs short of the target.

4. Namibia beat Sri Lanka in the 55 runs in the 2022 World Cup

Sri Lanka vs Namibia: (Image Source: Twitter)

The ongoing 20-20 World Cup began with a first-round clash between Namibia and Sri Lanka. Namibia stunned the entire cricketing fraternity as they went on to beat the Island nation by 55 runs and get the tournament off to a cracking start.

Jan Frylink played an outstanding knock of 44 runs in 28 balls and helped the team reach a formidable score of 163 runs in the first innings. Sri Lanka, in reply, couldn’t build a solid partnership and kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Rajapaksa and Shanaka stitched the biggest partnership of the innings, adding 34 runs for the 5^th wicket. But they couldn’t convert that into a big one. Sri Lanka, as a result, were bowled out for just 108 runs on the board.

3. Netherlands beat England in 2009 World Cup

England vs Netherlands: (Image Source: Twitter)

Much like the opening encounter in the ongoing edition, a similar fate happened on the first day of the 2009 20-20 World Cup. The first match of the competition saw England take on the Netherlands at Lord’s. Batting first, England managed to score a competitive score of 163 runs on the board.

Luke Wright (71) and Ravi Bopara (46) put on a 102-run partnership for the opening wicket in just 11 overs. However, once that partnership came to an end, wickets fell in a cluster and England could only end up scoring 163 runs in 20 overs.

In pursuit of the target, Netherlands didn’t start well as they had lost the first two wickets for just 23 runs on the board. However, Tom de Grooth looked in a different mood as he went all guns blazing. He played a solid knock of 40 runs in 30 balls and received a valuable support from Peter Borren, who added 30 runs in 25 balls.

Ryan ten Doeschate with his unbeaten 22 off 17 helped Netherlands chase down the score on the last ball of the innings and make history.

2. Zimbabwe beat Pakistan in the 2022 World Cup

Zimbabwe vs Pakistan: (Image Source: Twitter)

On Thursday, Zimbabwe pulled off one of the greatest upsets at Sydney Cricket Ground as they beat Pakistan by 1 run. Babar Azam and Co. bowled beautifully and had restricted Zimbabwe to just 130 runs. Playing his first game in the tournament, Wasim Jr. returned with an outstanding spell of 4 for 24 in 4 overs.

However, Pakistan couldn’t produce a similar performance with the bat. Both Babar Azam and M Rizwan got out cheaply and Iftikhar Ahmed’s wicket in the 8^th over made matters worse. Shan Masood and Shadab Khan stitched a 50-run partnership but both of them got out at the wrong time.

11 runs were needed in the final over but Pakistan fell 1 run short in the end. Once again, Sikandar Raza was the star for Pakistan, picking 3 for 25 in 4 overs.

1. Zimbabwe beat Australia 2007 World Cup

Zimbabwe vs Australia: (Image Source: Twitter)

This has to stay at the top of the list. Zimbabwe produced, arguably, the greatest upset in the history of the 20-20 World Cup during the 2007 edition against Australia.

Elton Chidumbura bowled his heart out as he sent both the Australian openers out to the pavilion inside just the first three overs of the innings. Garry Brent, on the other hand, was also equally brilliant. He picked the wicket of Ponting to reduce Australia to 19 for 3.

Later, Brad Hodge played a crucial knock of 35 runs in 22 balls but Australia still were reduced to a below-par total of 138 runs. In reply, Zimbabwe chased down the score in 19.5 overs, thanks to an unbeaten knock from Brendan Taylor of 60 runs in 45 deliveries.