Afghanistan defeated Zimbabwe by five runs in a thrilling Twenty20 clash on Friday, after their historic ODI series win a few days ago.
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Sikandar Raza (1-27) dismissed Ghani when he was caught at long-off in the 13th over, while Naib hit 37 off just 20 balls, including three maximums, before being run out by Richmond Mutumbami to help propel Afghanistan to a more than respectable total. Zimbabwe, who won their last T20 match against Bangladesh in November a year ago, were outplayed by Afghanistan in their last T20 series at home, with the Afghans winning it 2-0.
The second and final match will be held at the same venue on Sunday.
Dawlat Zadran, the new-ball bowler, and Amir Hamza, the left-arm spinner, have been the two best bowlers for Afghanistan and they once again proved it in the last game. Zadran finished with figures of 3 for 32 in his four overs.
Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat first in Sharjah, with half-centuries from openers Peter Moor (52) and Chamu Chibhabha (53) setting a solid platform after a first-wicket stand of 92. Usman Ghani top-scored with 42 off 38 balls, an essay including a six and five boundaries while man-of-the-match Naib made 37 and Mohammad Shahzad, 33.
“I thought we lost it in the last nine overs of our bowling, where we didn’t bowl our yorkers well”.
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Zimbabwe viewers can watch the Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe 1 T20 live on DSTV while Afghanistan cricket fans can watch the Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe 1 T20 live on 1TV with live streaming on 1TV Live Online. Afghanistan’s next match in the shortest format, on the other hand, will be in the ICC World Twenty20 in India in March-April, which means that apart from the opportunity to complete a double of the ODI and T20I series, this will be the final chance to iron out the kinks ahead of the mega event.
