Zimbabwe beats Australia: 6 times Australia suffered shock defeats to minnows

Australia are not known for losing too many games, even after the end of their golden era in cricket. However, on Sunday, minnows Zimbabwe beat Australia by 3 wickets in Harare, thanks to a half-century by captain Elton Chigumbura. This was the first time Zimbabwe defeated Australia in 31 years, and only the second time Zimbabwe ever beat Australia.

Here we take a look at 6 instances where minnows inflicted shock defeats upon the Australian ODI side.

6) Australia v/s Zimbabwe, Triangular Series, 2014 (Zimbabwe won by 3 wickets): This is an ongoing ODI tri-series involving Australia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, in Zimbabwe. Before the series began, the expectation was largely that it would be a contest between Australia and South Africa. Australia defeated Zimbabwe soundly by 198 runs in the first match on August 25. However, on Sunday, August 31, Zimbabwe would create history by beating Australia for the first time in 31 years.

Bowling first, Zimbabwe restricted Australia to a modest 209/9 in 50 overs. Australian captain Michael Clarke scored 68, but he took an incredible 102 deliveries to do so. The Zimbabwe spinners, in particular Prosper Utseya (who had taken a hat trick against South Africa 2 days ago) and Sean Williams enjoyed the turn in the pitch, taking 2 wickets each. Zimbabwe then batted with poise, but at 156/7 in 38.2 overs, a familiar result seemed on the cards. Captain Elton Chigumbura and Prosper Utseya however combined for an unbeaten 56-run stand off 58 balls to guide Zimbabwe to an improbable win.

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5) Australia v/s India, 1983 World Cup (India won by 118 runs): India were never expected to win an ODI World Cup in those days, less so in England. India had a strong tradition of producing fine test batsmen, but it ended at that. During India's victorious 1983 World Cup campaign, they defeated Australia, England and the West Indies (twice).

India's 118-run win against Australia came in the league stages and was merely a precursor of things to come. None of the Indian batsmen scored a half century. However, Kris Srikkanth, Yashpal Sharma and Sandeep Patil all made important contributions at over a run-a-ball. Though India were bowled out in the 56th over, they had scored 247 - a challenging total for the times. Australia then wilted under the pressure exerted by Indian medium pacers Madan Lal and Roger Binny, who took four wickets each. Lal took 4/20 and Binny 4/29, bowling out Australia for 129 in 38.2 overs to secure a famous win.

4) Australia v/s Zimbabwe, 1983 World Cup (Zimbabwe won by 13 runs): Zimbabwe was a very new and inexperienced side at the Prudential World Cup in 1983. Not only was it their first World Cup, but no one really expected them to win even a single match. Thus it came as a shocker when the strong Australian outfit went down by 13 runs to Zimbabwe in a Group B match in Trent Bridge. Batting first, Zimbabwe set up a total of 239/6 from 60 overs, which was a competitive score in those days. Duncan Fletcher, present India coach, scored a fluent 69 off 84 balls to lead the charge for Zimbabwe.

Chasing 240 to win, Australia could never muster up the run rate needed to stay in the game. A scintillating 42-ball 50 from wicketkeeper Rodney Marsh too was insufficient to take them to victory. Australia finished on 226/7 off 60 overs, losing by 13 runs. To modern day fans, the fact that Australia could not score four runs per over might come as a surprise, but such was the influence of attritional Test cricket in those days.

3) Australia v/s Sri Lanka, Colombo, 1983 (Sri Lanka won by 4 wickets): Australia were playing Sri Lanka in an ODI series in Sri Lanka for the first time. Lanka were absolute minnows during this period. They were the present day Zimbabwe in the sense that they rarely won anything - in fact they rarely played at all. So when Sri Lanka defeated Australia by 4 wickets at Colombo in the 1st ODI, it was a milestone for Sri Lankan cricket. Wary of the spinning tracks in Lanka, Australia batted cautiously, yet reached 207/5 in the allotted 45 overs.

Then, after Sidath Wettimuny and Susil Fernando had given Sri Lanka a terrific opening with a 101-run stand, future legend Arjuna Ranatunga and future match referee Ranjan Madugalle tore into the Australian attack. Ranatunga thumped 55 off 39 balls and Madugalle 37 off 23 balls. In the end, Sri Lanka won with 40 balls to spare.

2) Australia v/s Sri Lanka, World Series Cup, 1985 (Sri Lanka won by 4 wickets): Though Sri Lanka had beaten Australia at home two years ago, no one expected them to repeat the feat in a multinational tournament in Australia two years later. Batting first, Australia scored 226/9 off 50 overs, after Rumesh Ratnanaye took 4 wickets. Sri Lanka were scoring at a snail's pace until the third wicket fell, but then Roy Dias and Duleep Mendis got together to put together a valuable 74-run stand. However, the required run rate was rising and it took the genius of Aravinda de Silva (46 off 37 balls) to take them to victory in the last over. With 3 runs needed off 5 balls, de Silva hit Craig McDermott for six to achieve the win.

Years later, in the 1996 World Cup, de Silva would cement his legacy with a 47-ball 66 against India in the semifinals, and a century against Australia in the finals.

1) Australia v/s Bangladesh, Natwest Series, 2005 (Bangladesh won by 5 wickets): This has to be Australia's most shocking defeat in the modern era. On a dicey wicket at Cardiff, Bangladesh managed to restrict Australia to 249/5 in 50 overs - which was still a daunting score considering how weak a team Bangladesh were. Bangladesh openers Javed Omar and Nafees Iqbal attempted to live up to this reputation, scratching 17 runs off 7 overs before Nafees Iqbal was out. Soon, the score was 72/3 with 21 overs gone, and an expected Bangladesh defeat was on the cards.

Young Mohammed Ashraful though had other ideas. Coming in at 51/2, Ashraful smashed a century off exactly 100 balls, especially taking spinner Brad Hogg to the cleaners. Habibul Bashar gave him good company with a 72-ball 47. With 24 runs to win off 18 balls, Ashraful was out and Bangladesh's fight seem to have come to an end. However, Aftab Ahmed and Mohammed Rafique achieved the impossible, taking Bangladesh to a famous win with 4 balls to spare, particularly causing grief to fast bowler Jason Gillespie.

The result was epic because the 2005 Australian side was by far the best in the world, and the team was going through a glorious period in their cricketing history, where they were close to unbeatable. Unfortunately for Australia, their poor season would continue after England beat them 2-1 that summer to win the Ashes after 16 years, a series hailed as one of the greatest series ever.