Tinashe Kusema
Zimpapers Sports Hub
JUSTIN Sammons cut a lone figure as the Chevrons’ team bus made its way back to the hotel shortly after the opening T20 of their three-match series in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday night.
The Zimbabwe senior cricket team head coach had just watched haplessly as the Chevrons went down to Afghanistan by 37 runs.
The result, Zimbabwe’s 20th loss to their Asian counterparts in T20 cricket, was one of the rare occasions where they were let down with both bat and ball and, practically, handed Afghanistan the easy win.
“Yeah, it’s so disappointing, we are absolutely gutted,” he said. “At 54 for 4 after 10 overs, we were in control but we let it slip away from us. I mean, they scored 120-odd runs in the next 10 overs.
“And, even if they bat well and they got only 100, I think chasing 150 was probably achievable and we were probably going to get there as the approach, in that scenario, is different,” said Sammons.
The match itself was a topsy-turvy affair as Zimbabwe started well with the ball, led by seamers Brad Evans and debutant Ernest Masuku, but took their foot off the pedal in the middle, something Afghanistan took full advantage of.
Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai brought to life the old cricket cliché as he seemed to bat on a different pitch compared to everyone else. He entered the game with the score at 66 for 5 in the 12th over, on a pitch that was exceedingly slow and grippy, and took the conditions out of the equation, muscling a 20-ball fifty.
Though Afghanistan were then bowled out with one ball to spare in their innings, they had found their way to 177, which proved to be more than enough as Zimbabwe’s batters struggled to 140 all-out in the chase, on a pitch that had stayed slow throughout the game. Rashid Khan, who took Afghanistan to their above-par total with his unorthodox cameo of 30 runs off 10 balls in the death overs, returned with the ball to pick up 2 for 20.
Ahmadzai and Rashid’s all-round acumen sealed a comfortable 37-run win for Afghanistan, handing them a 20-2 record in the format against Zimbabwe.
However, as the two teams head into the second match this afternoon, Sammons has asked his charges to take a leaf out of their opponents’ playbook, showing a little more aggression and ruthlessness.
After all, that was the biggest difference between the two sides as the trio of Ahmadzai, Khan and Shahidullah took the game out of Zimbabwe’s grasp.
Shahidullah had been constructing a patient innings for Afghanistan as wickets fell at the other end and ended up with a handy 46 runs off 42 balls by the time he was out in the 17th over.
But at the other end, Ahmadzai unleashed carnage, constantly stepping down the track, using lofted shots and sweeps to great effect, with the pair putting up a 61-run partnership in just 4.5 overs.
By contrast, the Zimbabwe batters failed to get out of the gates with as many as six batters failing to reach double figures. In the end, only Innocent Kaia and Ryan Burl managed to make any meaningful contribution with 24 runs off 26 balls and 32 off 26 respectively.
