Rashid, Mujeeb star in comprehensive win as Afghanistan clinch series

Afghanistan sealed the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe with a comprehensive win in the second T20I at Harare on Friday, October 31. After restricting the hosts to a modest 125, Afghanistan completed their chase in just 18 overs with 7 wickets in hand.

Opting to bat first, Zimbabwe got off to a poor start. They inflicted early pressure upon themselves after failing to get a single boundary in the first three overs. While Brian Bennett struck the first ball of the fourth over for six, he lost his opening partner Dion Myers two balls later. Bennett himself was dismissed in the following over after miscuing a pull shot. Brendan Taylor fell in the final over of the PowerPlay leaving Zimbabwe on shaky ground at 35/3.

As Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl looked to consolidate, Zimbabwe's scoring rate took a hit with them not managing any boundaries in the following four overs. Their 23-run stand came to an end when Burl was dismissed for a scratchy 15-ball 10 by Abdullah Ahmadzai. Raza continued to fight and found some assistance from Tony Munyonga who struck three fours before being bowled for 19 by Nabi in the 14th over.

A double-strike from Rashid Khan in the 17th over, where he dismissed both Raza and Tashinga Musekiwa, meant that Zimbabwe were left with little firepower in the death overs. While Brad Evans managed a couple of streaky boundaries in the 18th over, Zimbabwe's innings ended in a whimper as they were bowled out for 125 with three deliveries still remaining.

Afghanistan responded in much stronger fashion with the bat right from the outset. Rahmanullah Gurbaz got underway with six and a four off Wellington Masakadza in the very first over. Even once he fell in the third over, his opening partner Ibrahim Zadran ensured Afghanistan had a productive PowerPlay. He struck two fours off Richard Ngarava in the fourth over and three more off Tinotenda Maposa in the sixth to take Afghanistan to 54/1 after six overs.

Zimbabwe struck back with the wicket of Sediqullah Atal in the eighth over but with no scoreboard pressure, Afghanistan contented themselves to knock it around and play risk-free cricket. The result was a period of seven overs following the PowerPlay where no boundaries were struck. Darwish Rasooli broke the shackles with a four in the 14th over but was out caught in the next.

Zimbabwe held on to a glimmer of hope with four overs to go - the equation standing at Afghanistan requiring a run-a-ball 24 to win. However, they were quickly dashed as Ibrahim notched up his fifty first before smacking a crucial boundary. That was followed by Azmutallah Omarzai pulling the final delivery of the same over for another four as Afghanistan knocked off 12 of the 24 runs required. Omarzai duly finished the job for his team with three more boundaries off Ngarava in the following over.

Brief Scores: Zimbabwe 125 all out in 19.3 overs (Sikandar Raza 37, Tony Munyonga 19; Rashid Khan 3-9) lost to Afghanistan 129/3 in 18 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 57*, Azmatullah Omarzai 25*; Brad Evans 2-21) by 7 wickets.