T20 World Cup: 'Can't tell you how proud I'm of my team, says Sikander Raza after Zimbabwe beat Pakistan

Sikander Raza heaped praise on Zimbabwe after their nail-biting one-run victory over Pakistan in T20 World Cup on Thursday.

Raza was the Player of the Match for picking up three wickets and inflicting a run out as Zimbabwe restricted Pakistan at 128 for 8 in 20 overs. The all-rounder credited Zimbabwe's pacers, who picked up the remaining four Pakistan wickets in the second innings: Brad Evans (2 for 25), Luke Jongwe (1 for 10), and Blessing Muzarabani (1 for 18).

Pakistan's opening batsmen Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan failed with the bat for the second game in a row.

In a post-match interview, Raza mentioned that a video by Ricky Ponting, which he had watched in the morning ahead of the game, motivated him to perform well for Zimbabwe.

"I am loss for words, my mouth's dry probably because of the emotions I am going through at the moment. I can't tell you how proud I'm of this bunch of boys. The way our seamers started at the top, was just unbelievable and the way we backed it up in the field and the way we kept believing, really lost for words.

When we were coming to Australia, I said to my captain (Ervine), If you become Man of the Match, pick any watch from the catalogue and I'll buy you that. But if I win the Man of the Match (award), you're going to buy me one. I was reminding him that he owes me three watches now. I was excited today, and I watched this clip by Ricky Ponting earlier in the morning, and that motivated me to come up with this performance. I would like to thank Ricky Ponting for that," added Raza.

Pakistan are yet to win a game in Group 2 of the T20 World Cup 2022, while Zimbabwe are unbeaten. Craig Ervine and Co's opening game of the Super 12s, which was against South Africa, was washed out by rain and as a result, both teams earned a point each.

T20 World Cup: Looking to come back stronger, says Babar Azam

Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Babar Azam admitted that his side's performance was "disappointing" on Thursday and they would "train harder and come back stronger".

"We would have taken 130 at the halfway stage. Very disappointing performance, we are not up to the mark in batting. We have good batters but both openers got out in the powerplay. When Shadab and Shan were building a partnership, unfortunately, Shadab got out and then back-to-back wickets that pushed us into a pressure situation.

"First 6 overs, we haven't used the new ball well but we finished well with the ball. We will sit out, discuss our mistakes and we will train hard and come back strong in our next game," added Babar after Pakistan's second straight victory in the T20 World Cup 2022.

Pakistan, who lost to India by four wickets last week, are next scheduled to take on Netherlands on Sunday (Oct. 30) at Perth Stadium. Zimbabwe also play on the same day against Bangladesh at Gabba, Brisbane.