Afghanistan are through to the Super 10 stage of the World Twenty20 after beating Zimbabwe by 59 runs in Nagpur.
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Zimbabwe, who are a Test nation, managed only 127 in reply as leg-spinner Rashid Khan claimed 3-11.
Nabi, who registered his highest T20 score, and Shenwari then got together to turn things around in the knockout encounter, with some precise power-hitting.
“This match was very important for Afghanistan, the people love cricket back home”, captain Asghar Stanikzai said.
The duo combined the right dose of caution and aggression and took a particular liking to medium-pacer Tendai Chatara and Donald Tiripano, whose economy rates went for a toss.
The match is going to be played at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur. the pitch has been very good for both the batsman and the bowler’s it’s just that how the players are going to play and the pitch is even for both batsman and bowler and we have already seen that in the previous matches as well where both the batsman and bowlers have played well.
“On that kind of pitch, 150 could be a winning target”.
Mohammad Shahzad gave Afghanistan a great start as they dominated against Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe 127 in 19.4 overs (Tinashe Panyangara 17, Hamid Hassan 2/11, Rashid Khan 3/11).
Afghanistan are a side of spirited cricketers, who in patches, deliver good performances.
In the dead rubber match of Scotland v Hong Kong, the Saltires prevailed by the D/L method by 8 wickets after another rain interrupted affair.
He followed it up with another four-wicket haul as Hong Kong were restricted to 116 for six after deciding to bat first.
Opting to bat, Afghanistan put up a challenging total of 186/6 in 20 overs with Mohammad Nabi top-scoring with 52.
South Africa was boosted by half-centuries from JP Duminy (67) and Quinton de Kock (56).
The 28-year-old struck four consecutive boundaries in the second over and followed it up with three more boundaries and a six before being caught at point off Sean Williams (1-25) while attempting a reverse sweep in the fifth over.
Samiullah Shenwari (left) scored 43 runs and picked a wicket as well.
In Mumbai yesterday, England defeated New Zealand in a warm-up game by six wickets, chasing down the Black Caps’ 169/8 with four deliveries remaining.
Nabi then joined forces with Shenwari to first steady the innings before accelerating.
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The first match of the Afghan team will be against Sri Lanka in Super 10 and will be played on 17th March t Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
