But Sean Williams struck 54 from 26 balls – with eight fours and two sixes – and was well-supported by Richmond Mutumbami (43 off 33) and captain Elton Chigumbura (33 off 28) to help Zimbabwe to a testing total of 190-7 from their 20 overs.
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Afghanistan continued to display intense competition as they secured a 2-0 Twenty20 series win over Zimbabwe after defeating the hosts by five wickets in a nail-biting second match here at Queen’s Sports Club on Wednesday.
Opener Usman Ghani smashed a 45-ball 65 with man-of-the-match Gul budeen Naib hitting an unbeaten 56 off just 31 balls with seven boundaries.
Williams showed no mercy to spinners, mauling Rashid Khan for 19 runs in first over, including two reverse sweeps and a massive six over deep midwicket. Karim Sadiq was also meted out a few harsh treatment as Williams raced to his fifty from 21 deliveries.
Afghanistan chased down their imposing 191-run target with one ball to spare. Ghani weathered a fierce short-ball assault from Zimbabwe’s quicks to rush to his first T20 fifty, and after he departed, Naib picked up where he left off, marshalling the second half of the chase and registering a maiden fifty of his own.
Another top-edged bouncer in Madziva’s next over brought four more, and Chris Mpofu’s change of ends was greeted with a straight six down the ground, before the bowler responded with a barrage of bouncers, one of which nearly knocked the young batsman off his feet. When the chips were down for the tourists needing 58 from 30 balls, Naib came to the crease and played a responsible knock, the ACB spokesman said.
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It was the icing on the cake for Afghanistan after they earlier scripted a 3-2 victory in the ODI series, becoming the first associate nation to beat a full-member team in a bilateral ODI series.
