Published: Jan 08, 2016, 08:35 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 08, 2016, 05:30 AM (IST)
After an exciting One-Day International (ODI) series, Zimbabwe take on Afghanistan in the first T20 International (T20I) at Sharjah. Afghanistan will go into the series full of confidence after securing a nail-biting win in the fifth and final ODI recently. They have now beaten Zimbabwe in an ODI series twice and have broken into the top 10 of the ICC rankings for the first time in history. Afghanistan also defeated Zimbabwe in the T20I series, which was played in 2015. Zimbabwe will have to forget what happened in the ODI series and stay focussed on the T20I series and look to win it. FULL SCORECARD: Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe 2015-16, 1st T20I at Sharjah
This will be a two-match series and the second match will be played on Sunday at the same venue. Just like they did in Zimbabwe, Afghanistan have managed to beat them by the same margin in the series at the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well.
Hamilton Masakadza was the leading run-scorer in the ODI series with 266 runs from four matches. Mohammad Shehzad was Afghanistan’s leading run-scorer in the series with237 runs to his name from five games. Amir Hamza picked up 11 wickets in the ODI series and finished on top of the chart. Dawlat Zadran did not do badly wither as he picked up 10 wickets in the tournament. READ: Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe 2015-16, 1st T20I at Sharjah: Preview
With the ICC World T20 just around the corner, it will be a good opportunity for both teams to test themselves in the T20I series and get their combinations right. Both have a capability to cause some upsets in the tournament and this series will be good platform to show the world what they are capable of.
Squads:
Afghanistan: Asghar Stanikzai (c), Dawlat Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Mirwais Ashraf, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Noor Ali Zadran, Rashid Khan, Samiullah Shenwari, Shafiqullah Shafiq, Yamin Ahmadzai, Amir Hamza, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Sadiq, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Nawroz Mangal, Rahmat Shah, Rokhan Barakzai, Sayed Shirzad, Usman Ghani, Nawaz Khan.
Zimbabwe: Elton Chigumbura (c), Tendai Chisoro, Craig Ervine, Neville Madziva, Wellington Masakadza, Richmond Mutumbami (wk), Tinashe Panyangara, Malcolm Waller, Chamu Chibhabha, Graeme Cremer, Luke Jongwe, Hamilton Masakadza, Peter Moor, Taurai Muzarabani, Sikandar Raza.
