Aussies win despite late batting scare

The result: Zimbabwe 9-151 (Mire 63, Tye 3-28) lost to Australia (Maxwell 56, Head 48, Muzarabani 3-21) by five wickets with one ball remaining.

The match in a tweet: Late collapse gives Aussies a fright! Century stand is followed by collapse of 3-10 and a tense final over, but Australia prevail

The match-winning stand: For the second straight day, Australia's openers failed to make anything of note but today's difference was the middle order stood up when needed. Travis Head (48 from 42 balls) and Glenn Maxwell (56 from 38) combined for a century partnership that steered Australia away from trouble after they'd been 2-26 early on. Maxwell cleared the rope five times to bring the victory target within reach, but his dismissal led to some late drama ...

The collapse: What looked like being a comfortable win was anything but as Australia lost three quick wickets and the run rate required slowly increased. Maxwell was quickly followed back to the pavilion by Nic Maddinson and Head, bringing the equation to seven required from the final over with new batsmen Marcus Stoinis and Ashton Agar at the crease. Two wides to start the over (one of them questionable) eased the pressure slightly, but the equation was still 2 from 2 when Stoinis faced up to the penultimate delivery. And he held his nerve, a firm swipe to the square-leg boundary securing the win and preventing what would have been an almighty upset.

The debutant: After missing selection in Australia's first three matches, Jack Wildermuth replaced D’Arcy Short in the XI and had an eventful start to his debut match. He dropped a catch on the third ball of the first over but made up for it by claiming a replica opportunity six overs later, diving forward nicely in the deep. He took the ball in the middle overs before Aaron Finch surprisingly asked him to bowl the final over, with the right-armer giving up 16 runs from his two overs and taking his first international wicket from the final ball of the innings.

Six and out: And we're not talking about Brett Lee's rock band. Zimbabwe's standout issue of the day was an inability to pick the right ball to hit, and it hurt them early in their innings. A ball after lap-sweeping Australia quick Jhye Richardson for six, Zimbabwe captain Hamilton Masakadza tried to punch a ball through the point region and chopped on to his stumps. It was a carbon copy situation for Tarisai Musakanda, who sent Billy Stanlake over the fence and then edged a ball to Wildermuth at deep third man from the next delivery he faced. 

King Solomon: Solomon Mire once again top scored for Zimbabwe for the third time in four matches in this series. As a team, Zimbabwe have scored 550 runs this week and of those 212 belong to Mire, who has played a lone hand with the bat at the top of the order. He posted 63 from 52 balls here as he anchored the innings and was aggressive when the opportunity arose, showcased by a mammoth six over mid-wicket from Andrew Tye, who again impressed by picking up three late wickets. An Australian citizen, Mire has been a shining light in a winless Zimbabwe outfit and matched it with the world’s best throughout this week.

The local support: It's not often you travel to a foreign country and have louder support than the hosts, but that was exactly the case for Australia today thanks to the kids from the Hatcliffe Extension. Two days after the Australian players visited their township, the children of the school returned the favour and attended the match with 'Australia' placards and sent "Maxwell, Maxwell" chants echoing around the Harare Sports Club. 

The next stop: Australia will return to the Harare Sports Club on Sunday for the tournament decider against Pakistan, while Zimbabwe's tournament is over.

Zimbabwe: Solomon Mire, Cephas Zhuwao, Hamilton Masakadza (c), Tarisai Musakanda, Peter Moor (wk), Elton Chigumbura, Malcolm Waller, Donald Tiripano, Brandon Mavuta, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani

Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey (wk), Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Nic Maddinson, Marcus Stoinis, Jack Wildermuth, Ashton Agar, Andrew Tye, Jhye Richardson, Billy Stanlake

Qantas Tour of Zimbabwe

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth

Pakistan squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Haris Sohail, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Usman Khan Shinwari, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sahibzada Farhan.

Zimbabwe squad: Hamilton Masakadza (c), Cephas Zhuwao, Chamu Chibhabha, Brian Chari, Tarisai Musakanda, Malcolm Waller, PJ Moor, Tendai Chisoro, Kyle Jarvis, Brandon Mavuta, Blessing Muzarabani, Chris Mpofu, Ryan Burl, Solomon Mire, Wellington Masakadza, Elton Chigumbura, Ryan Murray

July 1: Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by 74 runs

July 2: Australia beat Pakistan by 9 wickets

July 3: Australia beat Zimbabwe by 100 runs

July 4: Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by 7 wickets

July 5: Pakistan beat Australia by 45 runs

July 6: Australia beat Zimbabwe by 5 wickets

July 8: Final