zimbabwe 145 for 6 (Bennett 49, Myers 32, Naveen 3-33, Rashid 2-26) beat afghanistan 144 for 6 (Karim Janat 54*, Mohammad Nabi 44, Ngarwa 3-28) by four wickets
Chasing Zimbabwe’s target of 145, frugal spells from Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan and four runs in the 18th over from Mujeeb Ur Rahman reduced the equation from 60 off 42 balls to 21 off 12. But Naveen’s final over went for ten runs, and Azmatullah Umarzai made the change. Couldn’t defend ten in the final over given the pace and length.
Musekiwa bowled a slow slot ball at cow corner and almost cleared the fence on the first ball of the 20th. He then ran back for three and two, and with the score tied and the field up for the final ball, drove straight to mid-off to celebrate with his teammates in front of a lively Harare crowd.
Naveen returned for one over which was not at all as expected. Wide yorkers were their default plan, and five of the first eight balls resulted in wides, apart from a high full toss which Sikandar Raza bowled at short third for four runs. When it again went full and wide, Raza smashed the ball down the ground, before a slower ball eventually dismissed the Zimbabwe captain, whose innings lasted only five valid balls.
Rashid, who was not that effective in his first three overs, dismissed the well-set Bennett for 49 with a slider. He then asked Ryan Burl to pull at the wrong time at deep backward square leg. But neither his nor Mujeeb’s stump-to-stump bowling was enough for Afghanistan to prevent Zimbabwe going home.
The chase began with Zimbabwe under pressure due to Naveen, who opened with a maiden before cramming Tadivanashe Marumani for room at the bridge.
But Naveen dismissed Bennett for 8 runs in the fifth over off the bowling of Azmatullah Omarzai. Rashid introduced himself in the last over of the powerplay but could not curb the scoring. He made a mistake short and wide (both off and leg side) to Myers, who hit two fours.
The pair came out strong but the asking rate reached nine in a few quiet overs. He hit a boundary each in the first two overs off Fareed Ahmed and Myers collected another off Rashid long-on at long-on in the 12th over. Bennett continued the attack by hitting two fours off Umarzai before Nabi’s intervention set up a rollercoaster finish.
Hazratullah Zazai, meanwhile, made a promising start, carving Ngarwa through point in the first over and having Bennett down the ground before dismissing Blessing Muzarabani in the third.
Nabi along with Janat put Afghanistan in trouble at 58 runs for 5 wickets in the 11th over. They got off to a poor start but Zimbabwe’s poor fielding made it look easy. Burl’s misfield at long-off in the 12th over turned two into three before Muzarabani could see the ball through and give Janat the first of two fours in the next.
Nabi hit the gap to get a few risk-free twos before going after Ngarawa who returned in the 16th over. Two fours took Afghanistan past 100 runs with four overs remaining. Nabi started the death overs by hitting a six and three fours off Gwandu, the last of which resulted in another fielding error.
Janat and Nabi added 79 runs in 49 balls, before Ngarawa dismissed Nabi for seven runs in the 19th over. Janat, who played the role of anchor, ultimately remained unbeaten on 54 off 49 balls and neither he nor Rashid could hit Gwandu for a boundary in the final over.
Ekant is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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