Afghanistan defeated Zimbabwe within the first T20I at Harare by six wickets as they chased down Zimbabwe’s complete of 159 runs with 4 balls to spare. Najibullah Zadran was the protagonist for the Afghan aspect, scoring an unbeaten 44 off 25 deliveries to get his aspect over the ending line. He acquired ready assist from skipper Mohammad Nabi, who performed a fast cameo of 15 runs in simply eight balls and remained not out.
The Afghan openers made a brisk begin to the sport as Hazratullah Zazai (45 off 26) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (33 off 36) stitched an 83-run stand for the primary wicket. Afghanistan have been cruising at one stage earlier than Ryan Burl rattled them with three wickets within the eleventh over. Zimbabwe pulled issues again brilliantly and put stress on the Afghanistan center order with tight overs within the center.
With 61 wanted off 30 balls, Afghanistan wanted an onslaught from their batters and Zadran responded to the decision as he put Blessing Muzarabani to the sword within the seventeenth over, which yielded 26 runs. Zadran sealed the match with an enormous six within the twentieth over. Sikandar Raza, who was the star with the bat, did an distinctive job with the ball as he conceded simply 16 runs in 4 overs. Nevertheless it was the efficiency of Burl that stole the limelight (3/14).
Zimbabwe posted aggressive complete on the again of Sikandar Raza’s innings
Zimbabwe got here into the sport after going through a 3-0 whitewash within the ODI sequence, however they have been hoping for a change of fortunes within the T20 format. Zimbabwe’s innings was off to a rocky begin after the early dismissal of their opener Harmless Kaia within the third over, however Wessley Madhevere appeared fluent from the opposite finish earlier than being dismissed for 32 off 24.
The Zimbabwe innings struggled for momentum all through, with wickets falling at common intervals. A late blitz from the skilled Raza (45 off 31) noticed them rating 35 runs off the final three overs and end with a good 159 on the board.
Nijat Masood was the decide of the Afghan bowlers with three wickets to his title, but it surely was the famend trickery from Rashid Khan that by no means allowed the Zimbabwe middle-order batters to open their palms. Rashid completed with 1/21 in his 4 overs.
Right here’s how Twitter reacted:
Congrats to @ACBofficials Group. Afghanistan received by 6 Wickets and take 1-0 lead within the 3 matches T20I sequence.
Wonderful spell Nijat Masood 3/39.
Very good knocks by Hazratullah Zazai 45(26) and Najibullah Zadran 44*(25).Very properly performed boys🙌🏻👏🏻👍🏻#ZIMvAFG pic.twitter.com/K2o13JRA1n
— Rizwan Afghan🇦🇫 (@RizwanAfghan17) June 11, 2022
#1stT20I | 🇦🇫 received by 6 wickets to take a 1-0 lead within the three-match sequence
— Zimbabwe Cricket (@ZimCricketv) June 11, 2022
Najibullah Zadran's unbeaten 44 off 25 balls guided Afghanistan to a win and so they go 1-0 up within the three-match sequence.#Cricket #CricTracker #Zimbabwe #Afghanistan #ZIMvAFG #T20I #NajibullahZadran pic.twitter.com/IKAG6hlwnB
— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) June 11, 2022
Memorable Moments for Nijatullah Masoud as he receives his T20I debut cap from the star All-rounder Rashid Khan. He would certainly preserve these golden phrases from Rashid Khan in thoughts for an extended whereas. 🤩👏
##AfghanAtalan | #ZIMvAFG pic.twitter.com/RjWwzMBevb
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) June 11, 2022
Afghanistan have gone 9 T20I sequence in a row with out defeat, a run stretching again to the beginning of 2018.
They’re midway to creating it 10 sequence unbeaten with victory within the first T20I in opposition to Zimbabwe.#ZIMvAFG pic.twitter.com/gGm0uSvbsj
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) June 11, 2022
