Spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman claimed four wickets while fast bowler Azmatullah Omarzai took three, leading Afghanistan to a 53-run victory over Zimbabwe on Wednesday, securing a 1-0 lead in the three-match
Twenty20 series.
Winning the toss at Harare Sports Club, the visitors chose to bat first and posted a score of 180-6, with openers Ibrahim Zadran (52) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (39) being the primary contributors.
Zimbabwe’s reply faltered early, plunging to 30-5 within the first five overs, and they were ultimately all out for 127. Lower-order batsman Tinotenda Maposa (32) was the top scorer for the home team.
Gurbaz struck a six and six fours, contributing 76 runs with Zadran for the first wicket before he was caught in the covers by Tadiwanashe Marumani off a Sikandar Raza delivery. Zadran’s innings included a six and six fours before he was caught by Ryan Burl at deep mid-wicket after a 33-ball knock.
Zimbabwe’s captain, 39-year-old off-spinner Sikandar Raza, took 3-20, and fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani took 2-41.
Afghanistan’s bowlers dominated early, dismissing three of Zimbabwe’s first five batters for ducks and another for one run. Opener Brian Bennett (24) managed a six and three fours from 15 balls.
Despite their efforts, Brad Evans (24) and Maposa could not prevent the inevitable defeat, both falling to Mujeeb (4-20). Omarzai (3-29) had earlier claimed the wickets of Bennett and Raza (one).
Azmatullah Omarzai, was adjudged the plauyer of the match, said: “Happy for the win. Ibrahim and Gurbaz gave us good momentum. We used variations with the ball. We were targeting above 160. The bowlers started well. Wicket was slow. Ball was coming nicely though.”
Zimbabwe captain, Sikandar Raza said: “Afghan boys played well in the powerplay. Had the score been 165, it could have been different. I don’t think there was enough pace. That was certainly chaseable. We were off the mark today. We won’t be precise enough. We were a little unlucky. If we can be precise at the top, we can score more runs. We will have a good game on friday. Had we got wickets in hand by the 15th over, it would have been a different game. The bottom order had a go and it is good in a way. But we don’t want to see that often.
Afghanistan captain, Rashid Khan said: “Pretty happy. We lost five T20s coming into this. Two during the Asia Cup and then against Bangladesh. We needed this. The openers gave us the base. Brilliant team effort. This is almost the same team which made it to the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 WC. It is the same team which lost these games. Important to start well. We started well with the bat and the ball. We have strong power-hitters in the middle-order. Hopefully, we can continue. We have lot of expectations from Ibrahim and Gurbaz.”
The teams will face off again on Friday and Sunday as they gear up for the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka scheduled for February and March next year.
Brief Scores
Afghanistan 180-6, 20 overs (I. Zadran 52, R. Gurbaz 39; S. Raza 3-20) beat Zimbabwe 127, 16.1 overs (T. Maposa 32; M. Ur Rahman 4-20, A. Omarzai 3-29) by 53 runs.
(With inputs from Agencies)
