Omarzai, Mujeeb give Afghanistan early lead

Afghanistan staged a strong comeback after getting hammered in the one-off Test as they beat Zimbabwe by 53 runs in the first T20I to give their side an early lead in the series. Azmatullah Omarzai and Mujeeb Ur Rahman wrecked the home side to bowl them out for just 127 after the openers helped Afghanistan post 180 on the board.

Zimbabwe made a horror start when Mujeeb struck in just the second over off successive deliveries including the big wicket of veteran Brendan Taylor. The hosts were given hardly any breathing space to recover as Omarzai got into the act in the very next over to strike twice as Zimbabwe were reduced to 25/4 in no time. That soon became 30/5 when opener Brian Bennett became Omarzai's third victim.

With the entire top five back in the pavilion, the game was pretty much done and dusted. Brad Evans chipped in with 24 lower down the order and Tinotenda Maposa entertained with a 15-ball 32 that helped Zimbabwe cross three figures before Mujeeb came back to put an end to the proceedings and finish with a four-wicket haul. Earlier in the day, it was the openers who laid the perfect platform for the visitors. If Zimbabwe lost their top five for just 30, Afghanistan's openers had put on 76 for the opening wicket.

Both Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran looked in great touch with the wicketkeeper taking on Richard Ngarava for three fours in an over. That was followed by Zadran smashing Blessing Muzarabani for the first six of the match and followed it up with a terrific boundary over covers off the very next ball. Evans was then welcomed to the crease with a 16-run over before Gurbaz rounded off the powerplay with back-to-back boundaries.

Zimbabwe needed Sikandar Raza to provide some respite as the veteran finally broke the partnership. Zadran though went on to score a fifty as Afghanistan positioned themselves for a massive total at 103/1 with 9 overs still left. Raza then applied the brakes with a double wicket over that required a reset. Zimbabwe appeared to take control when Muzarabani also delivered a double-wicket over to reduce the visitors to 128/5 but vital cameos at the death from Omarzai and Shahidullah Kamal powered Afghanistan's strong finish.

Brief scores: Afghanistan 180/6 in 20 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 52, Rahmanullah Gurbaz 39; Sikandar Raza 3/20) beat Zimbabwe 127 in 16.1 overs (Tinotenda Maposa 32; Mujeeb Ur Rahman 4/20, Azmatullah Omarzai 3/29) by 53 runs