Zimbabwe Topple Australia; Rattle England!!!

By Sreelata S. Yellamrazu

This was more than the tournament organizers bargained for! Did they get their money’s worth? Who knows, judging by the many empty seats? Perhaps Ricky Ponting’s statement, “We should respect the game more,” should have applied to the local fans that missed out on an enterprising feast. It was a night where Australia’s nightmares began even before they went to bed. For the rest of the world, it was a day neither Zimbabwe nor the rest of the cricketing world would forget in a long time to come!

What a night! This is the kind of game the World Cup in the Caribbean would have needed to set it on fire. It certainly is burning hot, just check under Ponting’s collar. For the world champions to be trounced completely by the supposedly meekest Test cricket playing nation in the world would not have gone down well with any self-respecting Australian.

Only about three days, Australia made headlines, having lost the warm up to hosts South Africa. Apparently it did not concern them, not enough to think they could be upstaged by the long standing team who has not been able to shake off the minnows tag. If the first defeat did not wake them up, this will only push them into a realm, potentially dangerous for their forthcoming opponents.

But few in the rest of the world would have any empathy for the self-proclaimed connoisseurs of the game. Ruling the roost always attracts enemies and the sadist in every person bares his fangs at the prospect of the most glittering team in the world cowering into submission. But given Australian high handed cockiness, they derive even lesser sympathy than any other team around the world. Even the proud Ian Chappell had to make a scathing remark (this time not against a non-Australian team) that the team in red (Zimbabwe) looked and played like champions and the team in red (Australia) looked like minnows to an outsider. Well said.

This should be called a shock defeat. Instead the only people truly shocked (and defeated) are the Australians. The whole world is rejoicing Zimbabwe’s success. It is true, “Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and the other guy has an even better sob story.” Zimbabwe’s political turmoil sullied their sport, and the dirt on the hands have been hard to scrub off. Plunged into darkness, their Test status in limbo, and a team looking ever more vulnerable than at any other time in history, Zimbabwe were the last team to make a fist of the battles thrown their way.

Playing a tough draw at the very beginning of the tournament is not easy, even for the so called pros. But Zimbabwe approached it in a manner than is inspirational to all and sundry. Zimbabwe held an aura of fearlessness that saw them through even when they briefly appeared to lose their way. Standing tall took on a whole new meaning.

People fear Brett Lee not because of his speed, but because of the precedence in being known as a speed demon with the ball in hand. But the way Zimbabwe took on the challenge, Lee’s blade seemed blunt and the likes of Nathan Bracken and Mitchell Johnson, mere swords of paper and glue!

Zimbabwe did not come without a game plan. In fact theirs seemed a structured approach, ironically so when Twenty20 is being hailed as a game with no time to think. Vusimusi Sibanda went fro carnage while Brendan Taylor stayed put, determined not to leave the field until he had sealed the deal for his team. It took some rain, some drama, a potential miss by three runs if Messrs. Duckworth and Lewis had anything to do with it.

But it was Zimbabwe’s night. It had begun that way and even they needed half a dozen in the final over, they chose to remain undeterred. On the day fortune did favour the brave. But it also favoured men of steel, and also, hard working, indigenous men who refused to be intimidated by the reputation of their opponent.

Losing can become a mental trap, and one can easily forget that a door is all it takes to step out of it. Had Zimbabwe lost this game, no one would have held them responsible. To put it in a better way, had Zimbabwe fallen placidly, no one would stir, or even shed a tear. Being trampled upon had become a romp, at the sound of sounding highly euphemistic. Zimbabwe rose over their own obstacles, and it certainly took a lot out of them.

Like Kepler Wessels, former South African captain, said, it would be hard to repeat their triumph twice in successive days simply because the victory would have taken a lot from them, the realization of it even. To earn recognition as world beaters from becoming virtual nobodies was no small feat. If anything, it should spur them on not only in future victories but in future defeats as well. The comeback road is usually uphill. But the hike becomes a little easier recalling what led them this far in the first place.

Zimbabwe could not quiet relieve the magic from the previous match in the game against England. But they are on the road of redemption. There was plenty of gust and gumption, even as they went down to England. Make no mistake. Zimbabwe was not an easy opponent to negotiate for England in their first match in the tournament. Zimbabwe still have slim doors open for them to go through, but their have done more than stamp their attendance. They have made this journey counts and for the sake of cricket, one hopes their journey is less obstacle ridden and bears more their exuberance and fearless determination (courage in one word) on their road to recovery.

Australia are a different kettle of fish. Australia do not take kindly to defeat, any defeat. The fact that they went down so insipidly must have been a difficult night to sleep on but a more difficult morning to wake up to. But if there is anything we have learnt of the Australia is that they do not take defeat lying down. That only means England will need to play with more authority than they did against Australia if they are to shut the door on their Ashes nemesis. England would do well to play out of their skins, not just for themselves, for the survival for a feisty Zimbabwean team. Come what may, Zimbabwe celebrated like they had won the World Cup! The rest of the world joined them as if they had, if only for a day!