Goals in each half from striker Simba Sithole and the talented midfielder Kuda Mahachi kept Zimbabwe’s dreams of a first-ever CHAN final alive in their third successive appearance at the tournament.
Mali had no answer for a rampaging Zimbabwe led by Masimba Mambare, Peter Moyo and Sithole, who pinned the West Africans in their half of the field for most of the first period.
Zimbabwe took a deserved lead in the 10th minute when Sithole tapped in the ball with a first touch off a long punt from his captain Partson Jaure to hand the Warriors a 1-0 lead into the break.
Mahachi sealed the win in the 56th minute with a breath-taking move after sweeping past four Mali defenders before escorting the ball into the goal.
Zimbabwe then sat back soaking up everything that Mali threw at them.
However, Mali exited the tournament with honour in the 88th minute when they became the first team to breach Zimbabwe’s wall of steel that had hitherto not conceded a goal at the tournament when Hamidou Sinayoko headed in a chipped pass from Abdoulaye Sissoko.
Zimbabwe head into Wednesday’s semifinals in Bloemfontein where they await winner of Sunday’s quarterfinal meeting between Gabon and Libya.
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