AUS vs ZIM 2022: “Well done”- Twitter erupts as Zimbabwe beat Australia by three wickets, avoid whitewash

In a massive upset, Zimbabwe beat five-time World Champions Australia by three wickets in the third ODI in Townsville, Australia on Saturday (September 3).

Having already lost the series, the visitors put on a spirited performance with the ball and bundled out the Aussies for just 141 runs in 31 overs in the final ODI.

In reply, Zimbabwe's batting unit stuck together and overcame a middle-order collapse to beat World No.5 ranked ODI team Australia by seven wickets.

Fans on Twitter congratulated the 13th-ranked Zimbabwe for defeating Australia and scripting history. The Regis Chakabva-led side also recently won a white-ball series against Bangladesh in the latter's backyard.

Zimbabwe bowl out Australia for 141 runs

Batting first, Australia had a day to forget as the entire batting unit failed to deliver barring David Warner, who slammed 94 runs. Glenn Maxwell was the only other batter to reach double figures.

Ryan Burl scalped a fifer while Brad Evans picked up a couple of wickets. Sean Williams, Victor Nyauchi and Richard Ngarava settled for one wicket each.

Chasing 142, openers Takudzwanashe Kaitano and Tadiwanashe Mrumani provided a decent start as they scored 38 runs for the opening wicket, but the side's middle order collapsed, leaving the visitors reeling at 77/5 in 18.3 overs. But Captain Chakabva top-scored with 37 runs to steady the ship and the tail-enders took Zimbabwe to the target in 39 overs.

Skipper Chakabva was delighted with the spirited performance of the players. Speaking post-match, as quoted by Cricbuzz, he said:

“Coming into the last game, the way we started off in the morning was great to see. Boys show a lot of fight and to get Australia to that sort of score shows how good we were. We head, a bit of fitness works to be done, training and then off to the T20 World Cup.”

Aaron Finch-led Australia won the series 2-1 as they registered five and eight-wicket victories, respectively in the first two contests. They will next play a couple of white-ball series against New Zealand away from home starting September 6.