Online Reporter
Eddie Chikamhi
Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE Zimbabwe cricket team gave a good fight with the bat, but the efforts were not enough to prevent a T20I series whitewash after suffering a nine runs defeat to Afghanistan at the Harare Sports Club yesterday.
In a brilliant show of positive cricket, the Chevrons were bowled out for 201 runs with the penultimate ball of the 20th over, chasing Afghanistan’s mammoth 210/3.
But it was the visitors, who atoned for an innings loss in the once-off Test that opened the tour, with a clinical performance in the three T20I matches to claim a 3-0 series win.
The Chevrons should also have rued missed chances after putting up a generally below-par performance in the field when asked to bowl first.
Afghanistan’s decision to bat was justified by the way their batters settled in quickly, with openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (92) and Ibrahim Zadran (60) setting up the stage for a spectacular contest that provided a fitting end to the series.
The pair punished the Zimbabwean bowlers after putting together a 159-run partnership for the first wicket on a dry batting patch.
The tone was set in the first over when Gurbaz hit Wellington Masakadza for 19 runs. Then they took turns on the Zimbabwean bowlers, with Tinotenda Maposa conceding 23 runs in the fourth over as runs continued to leak.
Brad Evans had the opportunity to remove the dangerman Gurbaz in the fifth over but he fumbled a catch after the Afghanistan opener had skied the ball with the edge of his bat while on 27 runs.
Gurbaz accepted the lifeline with grace and went on to accelerate, as the opening pair raked up 73 runs in the powerplay overs, to etch their names in the record books for the third highest powerplay score at Harare Sports Club.
The Afghanistan batsmen were more prolific in the 14th over taken by Ryan Burl which yielded 30 runs. It took an extraordinary effort from Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza to break the dominant partnership.
Raza pulled a stunning catch, with a sliding dive off the bowling of Richard Ngarava, to end Gurbaz’s innings, which comprised eight boundaries and five sixes. Gurbaz was the Man of the Match for his 92 runs which came off 48 balls.
Zimbabwe’s breakthrough came after 15.4 overs, and Afghanistan were on 159/1. Zadran, who was the stand-in captain in the absence of injured Rashid Khan, followed the next over, bowled out by Brad Evans for 60 runs after facing 49 deliveries.
Despite the setback, Afghanistan continued with their aggressive play with Sediqullah Atal weighing in with 35 runs from 15 balls. Zimbabwe missed another wicket chance when Clive Madande dropped Shahidullah in the death overs.
Brad Evans finished with 2-33 while Richard Ngarava had 1-40.
Zimbabwe’s chase suffered an early setback after losing Dion Myers (5) and Brendan Taylor (4) in the powerplay overs. But opening batsman Brian Bennett (47) and skipper Sikandar Raza (51) engineered Zimbabwe’s recovery with an 85-run partnership for the third wicket.
Zimbabwe continued with the positive play and were 92/2 at the halfway mark, to reignite hope among the vociferous home fans. However, the partnership was broken by Mohammad Nabi.
Bennett followed shortly, to shift the momentum to the visitors as Zimbabwe found themselves on 126/4 after 12.5 overs.
But then Ryan Burl came in with a powerful cameo that yielded 37 runs from 15 deliveries.
Burl struck five sixes during his innings and there was also some braving batting from Tashinga Musekiwa in the lower middle order as the Chevrons threatened to challenge Afghanistan’s huge target.
However, the asking run rate was a huge challenge and the hosts eventually succumbed to the pressure despite breaching the 200 runs mark. Abdollah Ahmadzai was the pick of the Afghan bowlers with 3-43.
