SIKANDAR Raza set a few records when he scored his century against Afghanistan on Thursday evening, but the all-round was not mincing words after Zimbabwe went down to Afghanistan by 19 runs in Sharjah to concede the T20I cricket series.
The Zimbabwe captain was unbeaten on 106 runs from 56 balls to become first cricketer from a Full Member nation to score a T20I century at 40 years and 188 days.
He also shared an unbeaten 120-run partnership with debutant Tafadzwa Tsiga to lift his side from 82 for five to 202 for five, but they still went on to lose the match.
The all-rounder pointed to “the complacency” on the part of his team-mates after they had Afghanistan at 5 for 4 in the fourth over as his biggest grouse.
Afghanistan went on to score 221/7 to claim the match and the series after taking an unassailable 2-0 lead.
“For me, before I go too much in detail (about the match) — and I will address that in the changing room — the toughest part to swallow was the complacency that I saw from some of the boys,” Raza said, the anger palpable in his voice, after his 106 not out in 56 balls had failed to prevent Azmatullah Omarzai’s 116 in 50 balls from ending on the winning side.
“[At 5 for 4] some of the boys were probably calculating that it will be — 130, 140 max — at the end of 20 overs. Some of the things that I saw on the ground today certainly hurt me and I’ll address that in the changing room because, listen, it can happen.
“But I think that’s where you have to be mentally very strong and say, ‘no, the game is never over until it’s over — we still have a job in hand and I’m going to be the guy who’s going to get the job done’.
“Before I dissect the game with batting or bowling, I think that’s something that I felt today out there in the middle and that’s something that needs to be addressed, not to take this game for granted because it can bite back and today is a great example.”
Even at the halfway stage of Afghanistan’s innings, Zimbabwe were on top, with the scoreboard reading 45 for 5. And then, after Omarzai and Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai (52 in 27) had lifted Afghanistan to 221 for 7, Zimbabwe fought, no one harder than Raza himself.
Raza struck a record-breaking unbeaten century as Zimbabwe mounted a spirited pursuit of 222 before going down by 19 runs.
The Zimbabwe captain hammered 106 not out from 56 balls, sharing an unbeaten 120-run partnership with debutant Tafadzwa Tsiga to lift his side from 82 for five to 202 for five.
His innings, featuring nine sixes and five fours, made him the first Zimbabwean to score two T20I centuries and the first to reach three figures against a Full Member nation.
Tsiga provided assured support with an unbeaten 31 from 23 deliveries as the pair set a Zimbabwe sixth-wicket partnership record, surpassing the unbeaten 88 shared by Milton Shumba and Ryan Burl against Ireland in Dublin in 2021.
Their stand also ranked third on the all-time men’s T20I list.
“When you’re chasing 222, for me the biggest thing was to try and stay in control of my emotions because the way we conducted ourselves in the first innings hurt me,” Raza said.
“So, when we go out to bat, for me it was trying to win the game from any position.
That has been our motto and, in my head I was just calculating how best can I go about my business and hopefully the other batters chip in so that we can win the game.
“Up until the last two overs [by when they needed 46 from 12], we were backing ourselves to win the game but yeah, I think we left ourselves too much,” said Raza.
Zimbabwe and Afghanistan will clash in the last match of the T20I series tomorrow before the teams meet in two Test matches to end the multi-format tour. — Zimpapers Sports Hub/Cricinfo.
