The first T20 of the Zimbabwe-Afghanistan series at the Sports Club Stadium in Harare was full of excitement. In the end, Zimbabwe beat Afghanistan by 4 wickets in the last over thriller. The host team has taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20 series against Afghanistan.
Set to a target of 145 runs on Wednesday, Zimbabwe started batting uncomfortably for runs from the start. After slow batting, Zimbabwe's opening pair broke for 11 runs. However, Dion Myers and Brian Bennett took the lead in the second wicket pair to handle the initial pressure. They made the way to victory with a pair of 75 runs off 62 balls. Mohammad Nabi broke the partnership by sending Myers back for 32 runs in the second ball of the 14th over.
After Myers' return, the hosts needed 10 runs per over. Afghanistan uses this opportunity. Picking up wickets at regular intervals put the hosts under pressure. The hosts needed 17 runs off the last 8 balls. That run seemed too much then. Wellington Masakadza hit Naveen for 4 on the fifth ball of the 19th over. Masakadja took 4 off the first ball he faced and took the pressure off Zimbabwe. Needing 11 runs in the last over, they brought the equation down to 1 run in the last ball. Then Zimbabwe took a thrilling victory with a single. Bennett scored 49 runs in their innings. This opener hit 5 fours in the innings of 49 balls. He is also the man of the match.
Naveen of Afghanistan took 3 wickets for 33 runs in 4 overs. Rashid Khan took two wickets and Mohammad Nabi took one.
Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan won the toss and decided to bat. The Afghans can score 58 runs for 5 wickets in 11 overs in Zimbabwe's aggressive bowling. The visiting team stopped at 144 runs for 6 wickets in 20 overs by relying on the partnership of 79 runs from 49 balls by Karim Janat and Nabi in the sixth wicket. Janat remained unbeaten with the highest innings of 54 runs.
Zimbabwe's Richard Ngarava took the maximum three wickets.
