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KABUL (Pajhwok): Afghanistan defeated Zimbabwe by 53 runs in the opening match of the three-match T20I series at Harare Sports Club on Wednesday. Afghan skipper Rashid Khan won the toss and opted to bat first. Ibrahim Zadran struck a half-century to help Afghanistan set a 181-run target for Zimbabwe. Ibrahim Zadran scored 52 runs, while Rahmanullah Gurbaz contributed 39. For the hosts, captain Sikandar Raza claimed three wickets and Blessing Muzarabani took two. In reply, Zimbabwe slumped to 30–5 within the first five overs and were eventually bowled out for 127, with lower-order batter Tinotenda Maposa top-scoring with 32. For Afghanistan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman took four wickets, Azmatullah Omarzai bagged three, and Abdullah Ahmadzai chipped in with two. The two sides will meet again on Friday in the second match of the series at the same venue, as they continue preparations for the T20 World Cup to be held in India and Sri Lanka next February and March. Speaking at the post-match presentation, skipper Rashid Khan said: “Pretty happy. We lost five T20s coming into this — two during the Asia Cup and then against Bangladesh. We needed this. The openers gave us the base. Brilliant team effort. This is almost the same team which made it to the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup. It’s the same team that lost those games. Important to start well — and we did, with both bat and ball. We have strong power-hitters in the middle order. Hopefully, we can continue. We have a lot of expectations from Ibrahim and Gurbaz.”
