Noor Ahmad playing this game in place of Mujeeb Ur Rahman stole the show as his 5-wicket haul destroyed Zimbabwe inside out. Noor showed his class after the new ball bowlers got the early wickets to fall. But it was Noor who stood up and turned the match around. He came in late, finished the tail by taking 5 wickets. Noor was supported by Simon Harmer for the incident. Takakhail got a couple of wickets as well. Zimbabwe could post only 79 on the board.
In reply, Afghanistan had to complete the formalities as the duo of Zazai and Ibrahim got going. Wickets fell, but Afghanistan were full in control as captain Ibrahim Zadran has played this well and keeping singles for the spinners. But he attacked the others as well. Omarzai hit the winning runs as Afghanistan got to the target in 8.1 overs with 7 wickets in hand.
Noor Ahmad’s brilliant 5-wicket haul skittles Zimbabwe out for 79 in 14.3 overs.Â
Put into bat first, Brian Bennett and Innocent Kaia came out to open the batting for Zimbabwe while Fazalhaq Farooqi had the ball in hand for Afghanistan. The opening duo added 8 runs in the opening over before Kaia was dismissed for 5 off 4 balls with one boundary to his name. Captain Sikandar Raza came out to bat next. The score remained at 8 when Bennett was dismissed for 2 off 3 balls to Azmatullah Omarzai. Ryan Burl came out to bat next. Burl and Raza could add 5 runs to the score before the skipper fell for 2 off 8 balls to Abdullah Tarakhail. Zimbabwe were rocked early at 13/3 in 3.2 overs.
Wessly Madevere joined Burl at the crease next. The duo tried to forge a partnership and took Zimbabwe to 37/3 in 6 overs of power play as the Chevrons showed signs of a recovery. The duo continued post the power play and took the team past 50 as the run rate maintained was less than run a ball. They put on 43 runs for the 4th wicket before Burl fell for 30 off 29 balls with 5 fours to his name to Abdullah Ahmadzai. Keeper batter Tadiwanashe Marumani came out to bat next.
Then the collapse started to unravel. Just 3 runs were added to the score before Madhevere fell for 10 off 17 balls to Noor Ahmad. Tafadzwa Tsiga came out to bat next. Noor had two in two balls as Tsiga was dismissed for a golden duck. Newman Nyamhuri came out to bat next. Just one run was added to the score before Marumani was dismissed for 2 off 3 balls to Noor. Noor had picked up 3 wickets in an over. Blessing Muzarbani came to join Nyamhuri in the middle.
The duo tried their level best to forge a stand and added 12 runs for the 8th wicket before Nyamhuri fell for 9 off 10 balls with one four to his name to Noor who cleaned him up. Ernest Masuku came out to bat next. Just 2 runs were added to the tally before Blessing fell for 1 off 5 balls to Tazakhail. Vincent Masekesa came out to bat next. The last wicket pair eked out 5 more runs to the score before Masuku was the last man out for 6 off 5 balls with one four to his name to Noor who picked up a five-wicket haul.
Masekesa remained unbeaten on 0 off 4 balls as Zimbabwe were bowled out for 79 in 14.3 overs. 12 extras given by Afghanistan bowlers and fielders.
Afghanistan bowlers had a field night in Sharjah. Noor Ahmad was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 5/13 in 3.3 overs. He was ably supported by Abdullah Tazakhail who finished with 2/14 in 3 overs. Fazalhaq Farooqi finished with 1/10 in 2 overs. Azmatullah Omarzai finished with 1/13 in 2 overs. Abdullah Ahmadzai finished with 1/18 in 2 overs. Rashid Khan finished with 0/7 in 2 overs. This meant that Afghanistan needed a mere 80 runs to win off 20 overs to whitewash Zimbabwe 3-0.
Ibrahim Zadran carries his bat and completes the formalities in 8.1 overs to complete the whitewash.
Chasing a mere 80 runs to complete the whitewash, Mohammad Akram Zazai and captain Ibrahim Zadran came out to open the batting for Afghanistan while Blessing Muzarabani had the ball in hand for Zimbabwe. Zazai was off to a flier while Blessing was serving him freebies. Afghanistan raced to 15 in the first over and the opening duo put on 15 for the first wicket before Zazai fell for 14 off 5 balls with 3 fours to his name to Muzarabani himself. Sediqullah Atal came out to bat next.
Atal and Ibrahim carried on the momentum with Atal being the aggressor as the duo added 29 runs for the second wicket in good tempo before Atal was dismissed for 20 off 14 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name to Ernest Masuku. Keeper batter Noor ul Rahman came out to bat next. The score stayed at 44 before Noor fell for a second ball duck to Masuku as he had two wickets in the over.
Azmatullah Omarzai came out to bat next with Afghanistan at 44/3 in 5 overs. Afghanistan reached 54/3 in 6 overs of power play. The senior pros Ibrahim and Omarzai decided enough is enough and made sure Zimbabwe does not make further inroads. Ibrahim anchored the innings while Omarzai hit a couple of lusty blows to the fence. The duo added an unbroken 37-run stand in just 19 balls to finish the game. Omarzai hit the winning runs as he finished things off in style.
Ibrahim remained unbeaten on 25 off 17 balls with 4 fours to his name while Omarzai remained unbeaten on 18 off 12 balls with 2 sixes to his name. 4 extras given by Zimbabwe as Afghanistan get over the line finishing with 81/3 in 8.1 overs.
Zimbabwe had a very low score to defend and we cannot fault its bowlers for their poor batting performance. Ernest Masuku was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/21 in 2 overs. Blessing Muzarabani finished with 1/31 in 3 overs. Newman Nyamhuri finished with 0/23 in 3 overs while Vincent Masekesa bowled the first ball of his spell and was hit for a maximum by Omarzai. So, Afghanistan thrash Zimbabwe by 7 wickets with 71 balls or 11.5 overs to spare to complete a 3-0 whitewash in Sharjah. Noor Ahmad was awarded the Player of the Match while Azmatullah Omarzai was awarded the Player of the Series.
What Lies Ahead.Â
The T20I series between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe is done and dusted with Afghanistan winning all 3 matches and completing the whitewash 3-0. The two teams will now play in a 2-match Test series not part of the WTC cycle from 5th November 2026 onwards in Sharjah with the match set to start at 10:30 AM IST. We will have to wait and see how both these teams perform in Tests, as this is the format these teams hardly play nowadays. Let’s see how things unfold in the coming days.
Also Read: AFG VS ZIM: Azmatullah Omarzai’s Scintillating Ton Destroys Zimbabwe.