Zimbabwe hand the Aussies a rare beating

In limited-overs cricket, you'd expect the relative minnows of international cricket to snatch a victory over the big guns every now and again, and so maybe it's a surprise that it has taken Zimbabwe so long to beat Australia since that sensational first encounter at the 1983 World Cup.

31 years ago, the Aussies were in transition, but still boasted the likes of Lillee, Thomson, Lawson, Border, Hogg and Hughes. However, chasing only 240 to win at Trent Bridge, the favourites fell 13 runs short. Star batsman (69 not out) and bowler (4-42) were one and the same man, Duncan Fletcher. I wonder what happened to him!

As in many sports, home advantage comes into play and Zimbabwe had few opportunities to compete with Australia at Harare or Bulawayo. They lost their first three matches in 1999 fairly heavily, then again in a home World Cup tie in 2003. The next year, the nations met seven times, home and away, but the results were the same.

Nevertheless, Zimbabwe came perilously close to gaining that elusive second victory in 2001 at the WACA in Perth. Led by Damian Martyn's 144, the Aussies made 302-5 but a 187-run partnership between Stuart Carlisle and Grant Flower took them within 24 with 15 balls still remaining. With fifteen to get from eight balls, Flower and Streak were dismissed in successive balls, but with Dougie Marillier on strike, his side made it to 301-6 and a heartbreaking loss by a single run.

It was a 91-run margin of defeat at the 2011 competition, and in the current triangular tournament in Zimbabwe, the hosts got off to another poor start. An 198-run defeat is embarrassing anywhere, but at the Harare Sports Club, it must have been hard to take, even allowing for some swashbuckling innings by Maxwell, Marsh and Finch.

However, six days later, somehow everything came together for the Zims. Even allowing for the absence of Watson and Warner, to restrict Clarke and co to 209-9 was confidence-building, especially as there was no Mitchell Johnson to face with a new ball. Wickets fell regularly but the required rate was always on the board. However, at 156-7, it was looking decidedly dodgy. Captain Elton Chigumbura then played a great innings, helped by the more attacking number nine, Prosper Utseya, and triumph was theirs with two overs to spare.

31 years of hurt, now all they need to do is make a splash at next year's global event Down Under. Evoking a mix of Perth 2001 and Harare 2014 could at least cause a few shocks.