Afghanistan pull off a nail-biting 5-run win vs Zimbabwe in 1st T20I at Sharjah
Afghanistan pull off a nail-biting 5-run win vs Zimbabwe in 1st T20I at Sharjah
Afghanistan pulled off yet another nail-biting win as they beat Zimbabwe by five runs against Zimbabwe and lead the two-match series 1-0. Zimbabwe needed 21 to win off the final over, but managed to fall just short eventually. Dawlat Zadran, who was Afghanistan’s best bowler held on to his nerve and delivered for his team in the end. Malcom Waller was left stranded on 49, but he had useful partnerships with Hamilton Masakadza (33), and Sikandar Raza (19), which got Zimbabwe within touching distance of a win. Afghanistan had se Zimbabwe a target of 188 to chase after they finished with 187 for 7 in their 20 Overs. FULL SCORECARD: Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe 2015-16, 1st T20I at Sharjah
Usman Ghani top-scored with 42 off 38 balls with a six and five boundaries while man-of-the-match GulbadinNaib made 37 and Mohammad Shahzad, 33. Veteran off-spinner Graeme Cremer returned impressive figures of 3-17.
The Zimbabwean seam bowlers lacked the control early on but displayed greater accuracy and guile towards the death but it was still not up to the mark. The end result is that Afghanistan have ended with a score which seems quite out of reach for Zimbabwe if the foregone ODI series is any yardstick of judgement. LIVE UPDATES: Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe 2015-16, 1st T20I at Sharjah
Afghanistan had won the One-Day International (ODI) series before the T20I series by a margin of 3-2, where the decider too went down to the wire, just like this match. The second and final match takes place at the same venue on Sunday.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 187 for 7 in 20 overs (Usman Ghani 42, Gulbadin Naib 37; Graeme Cremer 3 for 17) beat Zimbabwe 182 for 7 in 20 Overs (Hamilton Masakadza 33, Malcom Waller 49*; Dawlat Zadran 3 for 32, Amir Hamza 1 for 23) by 5 runs.
Man of the Match: Gulbadin Naib
(With inputs from AFP)