Zimbabwe showed plenty of fight and character against Afghanistan in the first T20I of the series. Brian Bennett, Richard Ngarava and Tashinga Musekiwa were the architects of Zimbabwe’s last-ball win in Harare. This is Zimbabwe’s first win over Afghanistan in T20Is since September 20, 2019. Batting allrounder Brian Bennett was the star for Zimbabwe as he chipped in with a run-a-ball 49 to help them chase down 145 inside 20 overs. Brian Bennett was awarded the Player of the Match (POTM) for his superb performance.
A 13-ball over from Naveen-ul-Haq and a dramatic final over in which Tashinga Musekiwa found the boundary and sprinted between the wickets gave Zimbabwe a thrilling last-ball win in the opening T20I against Afghanistan.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch report by Ed Rainsford: A beautiful day in Harare. The square boundaries are big here – 79m to one side and 64m to the other. And straight is 69m. The pitch has a few cracks but looks like a belter. The outfield is quick as well. The toss is not that important as to whoever plays well and exhibits their skills better will win.
Toss : Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan won the toss and have opted to bat with an aim to perform well in the match. Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza bowling first made some crucial changes in the playing XI.
Richard Ngarava’s 3-fer restricts Afghanistan to 144 for 6 after 20 overs .
Earlier, opting to bat, Afghanistan suffered early setbacks, losing four wickets inside the powerplay. Rahmanullah Gurbaz was the first to depart, slicing an attempted loft to cover off Richard Ngarava to depart without scoring. Hazratullah Zazai got Afghanistan going as he struck a four and a six to the roof off Brian Be
Earlier, Rashid had no hesitations in batting first. Rahmanullah Gurbaz wanted to take the early initiative but was undone by Richard Ngarava’s extra bounce off the third ball of the match. Sediqullah Atal was offered a chance by Wessly Madhevere in the third over but fell in the next trying to heave Trevor Gwandu over mid-on.
Hazratullah Zazai, meanwhile, was off to a promising start, carving Ngarava through point in the first over and launching Brian Bennett down the ground in the third before holing out off Blessing Muzarabani.
But a fine catch from Ngarava gave Trevor Gwandu the wicket of Sediqullah Atal and then Ngarava bagged his second wicket by sending Mohammad Ishaq back cheaply. Zazai fell for a 15-ball 20, reducing Afghanistan to 33/4 in the sixth over.
Omarzai and Karim Janat lowered the risk post-powerplay but got a boundary each off Raza to lift the run rate towards run-a-ball again. But an attempt to launch Wellington Masakadza over the top led to Omarzai getting caught at long-on.
Nabi joined Janat with Afghanistan in trouble at 58 for 5 in the 11th over. Their start together was scratchy but was made easier by sloppy fielding from Zimbabwe. Burl’s misfield at long-off turned two into three in the 12th over before Muzarabani lost sight of the ball and gave Janat the first of two boundaries in the next.
Janat employed a measured approach and started building a partnership with Azmatullah Omarzai but their stand was ended when the latter miscued a loft. Afghanistan finally found some stability through the Janat-Nabi partnership. Janat, who had scored only 20 off 29, upped the ante with two fours off Masakadza in the 13th over. Both Nabi and Janat struck a boundary apiece off Ngarava to help Afghanistan past 100 in the 16th over.
Nabi hit the gaps to get some risk-free twos before going after the returning Ngarava in the 16th over. Two boundaries took Afghanistan past 100 with four overs to go. Nabi began the death overs by taking down Gwandu for a six and three fours, the last of which came about via another fielding lapse.
Janat and Nabi added 79 off 49 before Ngarava dismissed Nabi in a seven-run 19th over. Janat, who played the anchor role, remained 54 not out off 49 balls at the end, and neither he nor Rashid could put Gwandu away for a boundary in the final over.
The biggest over of the innings came in the 17th as Nabi took the attack to Gwandu, striking a six and three fours in a 20-run over. Janat got to a 46-ball 50 but Nabi fell six short of a half-century, which ended a 79-run stand off 49 balls. It was a good finish to the innings, nevertheless, for Afghanistan as they managed 43 runs in the last four overs, but the total proved insufficient in the end.
Brian Bennett and Tashinga Musekiwa last over heroics powers Zimbabwe’s thrilling win over Afghanistan
Naveen-ul-Haq began the second innings with a maiden to Brian Bennett and bagged the wicket of Tadiwanshe Marumani in his next over. Brian Bennett and Dion Myers scored three fours between them in the powerplay, with the former also getting a reprieve, but Zimbabwe’s progress was slow as the hosts got only 33 in the first six overs. Afghanistan continued to keep it tight and minimized the boundaries, with Zimbabwe managing only 54 in the first half of their innings.
Brian Bennett and Myers began to accelerate in the second half, with the latter also striking a six off Rashid Khan. But their stand worth 75 off 62 balls ended when Myers got a top-edge off Nabi. The 15th over was rather eventful, with Naveen over-stepping once and bowling nine wides in a 13-ball over in which he conceded 19 and also picked up the wicket of Sikandar Raza.
The chase began with Zimbabwe under pressure because of Naveen, who started with a maiden before cramping Tadiwanshe Marumani for room on the pull.
But Naveen dropped Brian Bennett on 8 off Azmatullah Omarzai in the fifth over. Rashid introduced himself in the final over of the powerplay but could not keep a lid on the scoring. He erred short and wide (both off and leg-side) to Myers, who picked up two fours.
The duo consolidated but a few quiet overs took the asking rate up to nine. They picked up a boundary in each of Fareed Ahmad’s first two overs and Myers deposited another Rashid long-hop over long-on in the 12th. Brian Bennett continued the charge by smashing Omarzai for two fours before Nabi’s intervention set up a rollercoaster finish.
The tension went up and down in the last seven overs beginning with a quicker ball from Mohammad Nabi leading to a miscued slog from the well-set Dion Myers. It broke a 75-run stand between Myers and Brian Bennett and took the asking rate to over nine runs an over.
The equation was 38 off the last five overs, which came down to 28 off 24 as Ryan Burl hit a six off Nabi in the 16th. But a double-wicket final over from Rashid, in which he accounted for Brian Bennett and Burl and conceded only three, left Zimbabwe needing 25 off the last three overs. And it came down to 21 off 12 as Mujeeb Ur Rahman bowled a tight 18th over.
Naveen returned for an over that didn’t exactly go as expected. The wide yorker was his default plan, and five of the first eight balls resulted in wides apart from a high full toss that Sikandar Raza flayed over short third for four. When he went full and wide again, Raza went across to lash the ball down the ground before a slower ball finally dismissed the Zimbabwe captain, whose innings only lasted five legal balls.
Rashid, who wasn’t as effective in his first three overs, knocked over the well-set Bennett for 49 with a slider. He then had Ryan Burl mistime a pull to deep backward square leg. But neither his nor Mujeeb’s stump-to-stump bowling was enough for Afghanistan to stop Zimbabwe from getting home.
Naveen managed to dismiss Wessly Madhevere in the 19th over but a crucial boundary and a couple from Wellington Masakadza brought the equation to 11 off the final over. Musekiwa started well, scoring a four followed by two couples off Azmatullah Omarzai. Musekiwa played a dot off the fourth ball but then scored another couple to level the scores. He struck the winning single off the last ball to power the hosts to an early lead in the series.
With Zimbabwe chasing 145, frugal spells from Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan and a four-run 18th over from Mujeeb Ur Rahman brought the equation down from 60 off 42 balls to 21 off 12. But Naveen’s final over went for ten, and Azmatullah Omarzai’s changes in pace and length could not defend ten in the final over.
Musekiwa slogged a slower slot ball over cow corner and almost cleared the fence first ball of the 20th. He then rushed back for three twos, and with the scores level and the field up for the last ball, drove straight of mid-off to unleash celebrations with his partner in front of a vibrant Harare crowd.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Sikandar Raza the winning Zimbabwe skipper said : I think Zimbabwe needed that victory, needed it for us to start believing and for the fans to start believing. A scratchy win like that will tell us where we went right and where we went wrong. Sometimes the result is not in your control, we have agreed as a team to give it everything. We need to feel tired physically and mentally when we finish a game.
Special mention to Tashinga Musekiwa, nice to get us over the line, will give him a lot of confidence. When a guy is struggling and he still fights for his country, that’s amazing, really proud of him.
I just want to thank God, it’s been quite a tough journey, never thought I’d get to 100 (T20Is), from a point where I thought by T20 career was over to see myself here, if it wasn’t for the love and support from the fans, Zimbabwe cricket, the changing room and my teammates, I want to thank everyone.
Rashid Khan the losing Afghanistan skipper said : We were only short of 15-20 runs. We lost a few wickets but came back very well. In T20s it’s hard to comeback, you don’t have much time. Still we did well. We could’ve bowled better than that. As a professional international player, you have to adjust yourself to the conditions. You spend some time on the wicket and react after that.
We speak about assessing the conditions and playing shots later on. It’s pretty hard to bat in the beginning unless you have an understanding of the wicket. The way he (Nabi) bowled brought us back into the game, you have so many options as a skipper, sometimes it’s hard to decide. It’s about making sure someone contributes when the team needs it.
Brian Bennett Player of the Match for his 49 runs said : Like I said last week, always nice to contribute to the team winning. Not the start I wanted but in T20 cricket, you have a lot more time than you think, just got into my processes. Nice to bat with Dion (Myers), he’s a mate of mine, wanted to bat a long time and keep up with the run-rate.
Zimbabwe have clinched a thriller here. The game kept oscillating between the two sides but it’s Zimbabwe that get off a to winning start in this series. Chasing 145 to win, they lost Marumani early but Brian Bennett and Myers stitched a partnership and kept Zimbabwe in control for the most part.
Once that partnership was broken though, wickets suddenly started to fall at regular intervals. The 15th over, bowled by Naveen, probably made a big difference. In what ended up being a 13-ball over with 6 wides and a no-ball, Naveen conceded 19. Rashid Khan struck back in the very next over with two wickets though but some sensible cricket and a couple of stray boundaries were all Zimbabwe needed to get over the line. They managed to hold their nerve and claim the win off the very last ball.
A thrilling start to the series then. A scratchy win for Zimbabwe as Raza himself described it but they’ll take it. Onus now on Afghanistan to come back strong in the next one and keep things interesting.