AFG vs ZIM Match Highlights:

Afghanistan is touring Zimbabwe for a long ODI and T20 series. Playing their first T20I in Harare, Afghanistan batted and bowled brilliantly to grab a 1-0 lead in the series against the hosts on Saturday. The team won the match by 6 wickets. After winning the ODI series 3-0, the visitors are currently undefeated on the tour.

On winning the toss, Zimbabwe decided to bat first which backfired when Fazalhaq Farooqi dismissed Innocent Kaia in the third over of the match. After hitting a couple of boundaries, skipper Craig Ervine also got out in the powerplay. Even after a cracking start, the team looked dodgy from hereon. Regis Chakabva and Wesley Madhevere fought valiantly, but Afghanistan’s consistent wickets pushed Zimbabwe back. Debutant Nijat Masood with his brilliant innings kept pegging the hosts back. With the help of Sikandar Raza’s 31-ball 45, the hosts staged a brilliant recovery from 66/4. Raza was crucial for Zimbabwe, as he snatched critical boundaries to help them reach a competitive total of 159.

Zimbabwe’s batting line-up looked poor in the absence of Sean Williams, with only two batters reaching more than 30 runs. Wessley Madhevere, survived the loss of his opening partner, Innocent Kaia, to share a second-wicket stand of 30 with captain Craig Ervine. Ervine became debutant Nijat Masood’s first wicket of his career when he offered the medium-pacer a return catch off a leading edge. The partnership was in an excellent position to create a solid platform for Zimbabwe but the team missed the opportunity while defending.

Afghanistan went from being 83/0 to being 86/3 in the chase. Darwish Rasooli then held down the fort at one end despite not having much of an impact, while Najibullah Zadran took over scoring duties. Zadran hit three sixes in his unbeaten 45 and drove Afghanistan to victory in the penultimate over of the chase, with skipper Mohammad Nabi providing support at the other end.

The hosts had a chance to defend the total courtesy of Ryan Burl’s 3 for 14 performance but Afghanistan

was experienced in how to handle such chases and went on to win the match by 6 wickets.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Najibullah Zadran AFG 44* (25)