T20 World Cup rewind: Zimbabwe stuns Ricky Ponting's Australia thanks to Brendan Taylor's heroics

Australia was the favoured team going into the 2007 T20 World Cup, but an inspired Zimbabwe gave them a harsh introduction to the unpredictable nature of the sport.

Over ten years after it was held, the 2007 T20 World Cup is still having an impact on the cricket world. Before then, there had been a few elite T20 matches, but this competition popularized the format, and cricket as we know it today has never been the same. The fact that India won the tournament despite having no significant players and a rookie skipper in MS Dhoni is one of the tournament's most cherished memories in that country.

With as many as two overs remaining, hosts South Africa defeated the West Indies' initial target of 206 to win by eight wickets in the opening match of the tournament. But the first major upset of the tournament—possibly the largest of them all—came in the fourth game, when Zimbabwe took on the formidable Australia. A few months prior, in the West Indies, Ricky Ponting had captained a side that had just emerged victorious from the 2007 World Cup. Australia was considered the clear favourite to win the T20 World Cup since the team was nearly identical to the one that had won the previous competition.

However, the format's inherent nature allows anyone to defeat anyone on any given day, regardless of form or history. Ponting won the toss and elected to bat first when Australia faced extreme outsiders Zimbabwe in their opening game. After being the third player to be removed from the game in the first four overs, Ponting was heading back into the pavilion a short while later. In the first over of the game, fast bowler Elton Chigumbura dismissed Matthew Hayden, and in the second over, he dismissed Adam Gilchrist. After Ponting was dismissed by Gary Brent, Australia was reduced to 19/3 in just four overs. Brad Hodge and Andrew Symonds engaged in some middle-order sparring, but Australia only managed a score of 138/9.

Although Australia prevented Zimbabwe from winning easily, the latter led for a significant portion of their pursuit. Brendan Taylor, the opener, carried the team to victory throughout, scoring fifty runs off forty-five balls without losing. Amazingly, Zimbabwe defeated the ODI world champions by five wickets with one ball remaining.

The rain stopped Zimbabwe's batting in the twelfth over. Before this point, Taylor had been mostly conservative; however, following the teams' 25-minute break, he altered his strategy. At the end of the 14th over, Zimbabwe was 12 runs behind the D/L mark with the prospect of rain still looming over the game. Taylor resolved that issue in the fifteenth over, hitting two sixes against Brad Hodge. In the end, Zimbabwe needed to score 12 runs to win the last over. After hitting Nathan Bracken for a four with the opening ball, Taylor and Chigumbura maintained composure to see their team over the finish line.