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Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe, 1st T20I: Afghanistan win after Gurbaz and Afghan half centuries

by Cricket World Wednesday 17 March 2021

©Afghanistan v Zimbabwe / Abu Dhabi

Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by 8 wickets in the 1st T20I, at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, today.

Match Summary

Afghanistan 198/5 (20 ov)

Zimbabwe 150/7 (20 ov)

Result - Afghanistan won by 48 runs.

Scorecard

A terrific victory in Abu Dhabi as Afghanistan take a lead of 1-0 in #AbuDhabiSunshineSeries beating @ZimCricketv by 48 runs in the first T20I. #AFGvZIM pic.twitter.com/60uJEun44z
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) March 17, 2021

Match Highlights

When opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored a match-winning 87 runs it was always going to be an uphill battle for Zimbabwe. Asghar Afghan added another 55 to that leaving Afghanistan in a great position at the end of their innings, finishing on a good score of 198/5.

Fall of wickets: 1-80 (Karim Janat - 7.6 ov), 2-154 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz - 14.2 ov), 3-185 (Mohammad Nabi - 18.6 ov), 4-192 (Asghar Afghan - 19.3 ov), 5-198 (Rashid Khan - 19.5 ov)

Zimbabwe started well though, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe adding 44, along with Sean Williams (22) and Sikandar Raza (22). It wasn't quite enough though, Rashid Khan (3-28) making sure Zimbabwe fell short with a quality bowling display along with Karim Janat (2-14) and Fareed Malik (2-31).

Fall of wickets: 1-38 (Tarisai Musakanda - 4.5 ov), 2-83 (Sean Williams - 10.3 ov), 3-106 (Tinashe Kamunhukamwe - 13.1 ov), 4-111 (Ryan Burl - 14.3 ov), 5-124 (Sikandar Raza - 16.2 ov), 6-132 (Richmond Mutumbami - 17.2 ov), 7-134 (Wesley Madhevere - 17.4 ov)

Playing XI

AFGHANISTAN: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Asghar Afghan (C), Usman Ghani, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Amir Hamza, Najibullah Zadran, Fareed Malik

ZIMBABWE: Richmond Mutumbami (WK), Wesley Madhevere, Tarisai Musakanda, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams (C), Brandon Mavuta, Ryan Burl, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Donald Tiripano

Match Details

Date - 2021-03-17 10:00 AM

Venue - Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi

Toss - Zimbabwe won the toss & elected to field