Harare crowd rejoices as minnows stun world No.1
Zimbabwe celebrate famous victory
If there is to be a defining image of Monday's Zimbabwean miracle cast into bronze and erected at a prominent public place in downtown Harare, there is no question as to what shape it should take.
It will feature Prosper Utseya, already a local legend for becoming the first black Zimbabwean to pocket an ODI hat-trick when he achieved the feat against South Africa last Friday, captured in a classical batting pose with his blade lifted high above his left shoulder.
Quick Single: Zimbabwe complete famous victory
The same stance he struck and held for priceless seconds as he watched, like a golfer admiring an unerringly straight one wood off the tee, the ball kindly deposited on a length by Mitchell Starc disappear on to the grass bank at very deep mid-wicket.
The same hill that led the record turnout at the Harare Sports Club into rapturous, rarely seen celebrations that reached a crescendo when Utseya then raised his bat to the sky in triumph before being mobbed by his teammates, and echoed long into the night.
As any lifelong Western Bulldogs fan will attest, the delusion of believing that your team might one day pull off the unthinkable and you'll be there to witness it is reason alone to keep turning up and sitting through the pain.
For Zimbabwe cricket fans, who flocked to the HSC in unprecedented numbers as word spread through the afternoon that history might make an unscheduled stop, that moment arrived when Utseya and his captain Elton Chigumbura eased them past what was – up until that moment – the world's best one-day team.
Both men were members of Zimbabwe's team that defeated a Ricky Ponting-led Australia in the inaugural ICC World T20 in Cape Town in 2007, but never before had the struggling cricket nation beaten the mighty Australians at cricket on their home soil.
And given the upheavals Zimbabwe cricket has endured over the past decade, few followers of their national team ever thought they would live to see the day, which goes a long way to explaining the fervour of the victory celebration.
"It was a proud moment for everyone, for Zimbabwe Cricket and even for Zimbabwe because it's been more than 30 years since we beat Australia (in the ODI arena at the 1983 World Cup in England)," said Chigumbura, who provided another enduring image when his infant son ran on to the field shortly after game's end to embrace his dad.
"We just had to bat 50 overs and stay calm.
"My role was just to support Prosper because he was being more positive than I was.
"I knew if I could bat until the end we would have a good chance."
Many cricket observers believed Zimbabwe had squandered its chance when the International Cricket Council and the then Zimbabwe Cricket Union agreed the nation should voluntarily stand down from Test cricket in 2004.
That followed the denouncing, suspension and sacking of prominent players, the international disquiet and internal politics that further threatened the game and the accompanying slide of the national team from one that offered great promise to the worst of the Test-playing community.
Monday's victory might just foster new belief among the players and the game's devotees in Zimbabwe that perhaps there are brighter days ahead.
Certainly, the news that former national captain and one-time chairman of selectors Alistair Campbell is returning to a senior management position within Zimbabwe Cricket has raised hopes of stronger governance and a more robust commercial focus.
But nothing will aid the cause of cricket in Zimbabwe more surely than the sight of the game's best taking on the local side at home.
Australia's involvement in the current tri-series with South Africa represents their first visit to the struggling nation in a decade, and England have yet not returned since Michael Vaughan led a team here in 2004.
The imbalance in resources was also starkly highlighted on Sunday when the Australian squad – 14 players and 12 support staff – posed for their official tour photograph shortly before the home team did likewise with just five management members to cater for the needs of their 21 players.
There is no doubt the game continues to face enormous challenges, and even in the warm afterglow of their greatest triumph at home, Zimbabwe coach Steve Mangongo and Chigumbura were quizzed about criticism both have recently faced for their methods and performances.
Manongo betrayed a level of satisfied indifference that was starkly at odds with the thumping house party that cranked into life for revelling fans at the ground within minutes of Utseya's winning blow when he fronted the media post-match.
"I don't feel vindicated because I had nothing to prove," said Mangongo, who has stared down suggestions that he is unpopular with the players and moved quickly to sanction any of them that stray beyond his strict limits.
"It's another game.
"There's another game coming on Thursday (against South Africa).
"It's just my job. It doesn't mean anything."
And despite his Zen-like acceptance of the vicissitudes of international sport and the extraordinary turnaround his team had perpetrated less than a week after suffering a 198-run defeat to Australia at the same venue, Mangongo showed he is not totally devoid of humour.
Particularly in dedicating the victory to those who had remained supportive of his strategies rather than those who he believes will never be satisfied.
"There are a lot of positive Zimbabweans who love sport," Mangongo said.
"I'm sure you heard all the singing and the joyous, momentous occasion when Zimbabwe won and I'm sure those positive people are very happy that their team managed to win the game (and) beat the number one team in the world.
"We are a work in progress, and we hope to continue to improve and get better.
"(But others) are entitled to their opinion.
"Zimbabwe is a democratic country.
"Anyone can say whatever he wants, they'll be very much allowed to do so."
For his part, Chigumbura was also circumspect about the significance of the victory, his role in top scoring for his team and seeing the run chase through to its conclusion and the criticism he has worn for his tactics and his recent returns as a player.
And despite the bowling heroics of his spinners, the uncharacteristically aggressive final stanza from Utseya and the obvious areas in which his team must quickly improve – most notably their lamentable ground fielding – he had no hesitation in citing one of the real keys to Zimbabwe's most famous win.
That being the Australians' decision to rest strike bowler Mitchell Johnson, who had struck fear into the home team when the tourists arrived not only with the new white ball but through a video of his most destructive moments shared on social media by a player since sacked for doing so.
"It was a big positive for us because he can strike and he is the main wicket taker, no matter whether the wicket is flat or not, because of his pace," he said when asked about the significance of Johnson being rested from the game.
"So it was an advantage for us that he wasn't playing today."