Maxwell powers Australia to T20 win over Zimbabwe

aHARARE: Glenn Maxwell paid tribute to coach Justin Langer after cracking 56 to help Australia beat Zimbabwe with a ball to spare in Harare on Friday.Zimbabwe batted first and made 151 for nine wickets in their 20 overs, led by 63 from Solomon Mire.In reply, Australia reached 154 when Matt Stoinis hit a boundary off the penultimate with five wickets down.Australia’s middle order were made to graft early by Zimbabwe, who nipped out openers Aaron Finch and Alex Carey in the first five overs.Australia took just 35 runs from the Powerplay and it wasn’t until Maxwell began to find the middle of his bat that they started to bring the scoring rate down.Together, Maxwell and Travis Head, who made 48, put on 103 for the third wicket to steady Australia’s chase.The pair seemed to have made the match safe for Australia, but Maxwell’s departure sparked a late fightback from the Zimbabweans.They took three wickets in three overs after getting rid of Maxwell to take the game into the final over, but Stoinis lifted the penultimate delivery over square leg to seal the match.The challenging total set by the Zimbabweans was thanks mainly to Mire, who made 63 off 52 balls. Together with PJ Moor he rebuilt the innings with a 64-run fourth wicket stand. Moor eventually fell for 30, chasing quick runs, but Mire brought up a 44-ball fifty in the 17th over.Australia’s win in this dead rubber provides a welcome confidence boost ahead of their clash with number one ranked Pakistan in Sunday’s (tomorrow’s) final.Score BoardZimbabwe won tossZimbabweC Zhuwao c Carey b Stanlake 0S F Mire b Tye 63*H Masakadza b Richardson 13T K Musakanda c Wildermuth b Stanlake 12†P J Moor c Maddinson b Richardson 30E Chigumbura c Richardson b Tye 2M N Waller c Richardson b Tye 13D T Tiripano run out 0B Mavuta not out 6W P Masakadza c Stoinis b Wildermuth 3Extras (lb 1, w 8) 9Total (9 wickets, 20 overs) 151Did not bat: B MuzarabaniFall: 1-0, 2-21, 3-44, 4-112, 5-116, 6-141, 7-142, 8-142, 9-151Bowling: Stanlake 4-1-21-2; Richardson 4-0-32-2; Stoinis 3-0-31-0; Agar 3-0-22-0; Tye 4-0-28-3; Wildermuth 2-0-16-1Australia*A J Finch c Musakanda b Masakadza 3†A T Carey c sub (Murray) b Muzarabani 16T M Head c Masakadza b Muzarabani 48G J Maxwell c Chigumbura b Muzarabani 56N J Maddinson c Muzarabani b Tiripano 2M P Stoinis not out 12A C Agar not out 5Extras (lb 4, w 8) 12Total (5 wickets, 19.5 overs) 154Did not bat: J D Wildermuth, A J Tye, J A Richardson, B StanlakeFall: 1-15, 2-26, 3-129, 4-134, 5-139Bowling: Masakadza 4-0-32-1; Muzarabani 4-0-21-3; Tiripano 3.5-0-27-1; Mire 2-0-17-0; Mavuta 4-0-33-0; Waller 2-0-20-0Result: Australia won by 5 wicketsMan of the match: Andrew Tye (Australia)T20I debut: B Mavuta (Zimbabwe) and J D Wildermuth (Australia)Umpires: Jeremiah Matibiri and Russell Tiffin (Zimbabwe). TV Umpire: Langton Rusere (Zimbabwe). Match Referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)

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