ZIM vs AFG 2024/25, ZIM vs AFG 3rd T20I Match Report, December 14, 2024

afghanistan 128 for 7 (Omarzai 34, Nabi 24*, Muzarabani 2-19, Raza 2-19, Gwandu 2-30) defeated zimbabwe 127 (Bennett 31, Rashid 4-27, Umarzai 2-10, Mujeeb 2-20, Naveen 2-27) by 3 wickets

Chasing the target of 128 runs to defeat Zimbabwe and win the series in the third T20 match, Afghanistan scored 45 runs for 4 wickets after seven overs. This could have been the point when the game swung in Zimbabwe’s favour. But faraz akram Then he bowled an 11-ball over with five wides, which gave Afghanistan the chance to take a necessary breath and a fifth wicket partnership was formed. Azmatullah Omarzai And Gulbadin Naib Repair work became easier.

Later, Akram’s bowling partners worked hard to dismiss Umarzai, Naib and Rashid KhanAnd Afghanistan needed seven runs from the last over to win the game. But the first ball of the 20th, bowled again by Akram, went for four runs mohammed nabi The target was achieved with three balls remaining.

Sluggish Zimbabwe eventually had to give away 17 extras, and are still giving away all six lost of their bilateral T20I series against Afghanistan.

Bennett continues to score

After contributing in the T20Is against Pakistan before this series, Brian Bennett Finished as the highest run-scorer across both teams with 107 runs against Afghanistan. he slapped and bit Naveen-ul-Haq for a four in the third over, as Zimbabwe scored 31 runs in four overs despite losing Tadivanashe Marumani early after being invited to bat.

Bennett was the third man to fall when he edged Naveen to Umarzai at deep midwicket, hitting four fours in his 24-ball 31. In the ninth over, Zimbabwe’s score was 57 runs from 3 balls and the recession had started.

Rashid walks in the lower-middle order

In the 11th over, Zimbabwe’s score was 78 runs for 3 wickets, but after 17 overs, Zimbabwe’s score became 106 runs for 9 wickets. Rashid took four of those six wickets.

But the decline began with the decline of Sikandar Raza’s fortunes. With a leading edge gone past point in the 11th over and a top edge missed at fine leg, Raza edged the ball to long leg off Mujeeb Ur Rehman.

After this, Mujeeb got Wesley Madhevere caught for 21 runs, after which Rashid worked his magic. He trapped Akram in front, pulled Tashinga Musekiwa to midwicket, saw Richard Ngarwa chip to cover the googly, and pinned Blessing Muzarabani in front. The last three of those wickets fell in the 17th over, as Rashid took 4 for 27. Although Wellington Masakadza scored 17 not out and added 21 runs with Trevor Gwandu for the last wicket, Zimbabwe’s total of 127 was not enough.

Bowlers give Zimbabwe a chance

Ngarawa and Muzarabani got some extra bounce from the new ball, reducing Afghanistan’s score to 9 for 9 in two or three overs. Muzarabani struck first when he tickled Sediqullah Atal behind Marumani. Ngarawa then slashed Zubaid Akbari past Marumani as the ball was kicked out.

After this, Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit Muzarabani for a four in the fourth over and he and Darwish Rasooli scored 11 runs in the fifth over. But Muzarabani, bowling his third consecutive over, got a leading edge from Rasuli as the ball looped towards point.

Raza then brought Gwandu into the attack and some luck immediately went in Zimbabwe’s favour. A short ball slipped without bounce and Gurbaz was given out LBW. Afghanistan’s score was 44 runs for 4 wickets, but Zimbabwe could not take advantage of it.

Umarzai, Naib and Nabi take Afghanistan home

In the over in which Akram bowled five wides, ten runs were scored and after that Afghanistan looked in trouble. Umarzai cut and pulled for boundaries during his stand with Naib, otherwise he remained consistent – he added 48 runs for the fifth wicket, with the required rate being less than six runs per over.

Then Raza changed one to Naib, and got him LBW on the ball of 22 runs. Umarzai and new batsman Nabi mostly got on with one and two – although Nabi dismissed Ngarawa for four on one occasion – but Raza got an easy run off a return catch from Umarzai, who made 34 off 37 balls.

Afghanistan needed 12 more runs from nine balls as things got tricky, but Nabi unnerved Gwandu with four runs behind point. When he hit a four at the start of the final over bowled by Akram, victory was almost certain.

Himanshu Agarwal is sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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