Confident Afghanistan thumped struggling Zimbabwe in the first two T20Is to take an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the 3-match series. In both these games, Afghanistan posted a 190+ total batting first and went on to post victories by great matgin. After a tough fight in the 2-match Test series, Zimbabwe failed to show up as a batting unit in this T20I series thus far. It would be no wonder even if Afghanistan wins the third and final T20I of the series on Saturday (Mar 20).
Having opted to bat first, Afghanistan posted a mammoth 193/5 in 20 overs courtesy of contributions from all their top-order batsmen! Karim Janat (53 off 38) and Usman Ghani (49 off 34) added 102 runs for the second wicket while all-rounder Mohammad Nabi in the end scored 40 runs off just 15 deliveries with 2 fours and 4 sixes to help Afghanistan get to this massive total! Zimbabwe used as many as 7 bowlers in this match but none proved to be effective as the hosts fly away to a big target!
Chasing a mammoth target, Zimbabwe batters failed to put up a show with the bat. At 56/5, all their hopes of chasing down this target and level the series came to a complete halt. Ryan Burl (40 off 29) then scored some runs and stitched partnerships but couldn’t take his team over the line. In the end, Zimbabwe were bowled out for 148 runs conceding a 45-run victory in this match as well as the series to Afghanistan.
Mohammad Nabi has been adjudged as the ‘Player of the Match’ for his all-round display in this match – 40 runs with the bat and 2 wickets with the ball. With this victory, Afghanistan has taken a lead of 2-0 in the 3-match series. The third and final T20I of the series will be played on Saturday (Mar 20) at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Brief Scores: Afghanistan – 193/5 in 20 overs (Karim Janat – 53, Usman Ghani 49, Blessing Muzarabani – 2/44, Ryan Burl – 1/7) defeated Zimbabwe – 148 all out in 17.1 overs (Ryan Burl – 40, Donald Tiripano – 24, Rashid Khan – 3/30, Mohammad Nabi – 2/20) by a margin of 45 runs
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