DHAKA: A blistering 107-run partnership off just 40 balls between Najibullah Zadran and Mohammad Nabi, which included 7 seven sixes in seven balls, assisted Afghanistan in defeating Zimbabwe by 28 runs in the second T20I of the tri-series in Dhaka.
Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz provided the impetus for Afghanistan in the powerplay with a quickfire 43 off 24 balls. But Zimbabwe came back strongly in the middle overs via spin. There was enough assistance for the spinners in the deck and the left arm-spinner Sean Williams bowled beautifully in the middle phase. He not only put a lid on the scoring rate but also picked up the wickets of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Najeeb Tarakai in the middle phase to peg Afghanistan back. And at that stage, Zimbabwe had Afghanistan in control.
Then, Najibullah and Nabi came together and smashed Afghanistan out of the precarious position, Nabi got into the act early and deposited Tendai Chatara for 4 sixes off 4 balls in the 17th over. In the next over, Zadran joined the party too and almost matched his partner by whacking three maximums in a row. They smashed 51 runs in the two overs (17th and 18th) and that blitzkrieg powered Afghanistan to a formidable target of 197.
The target looked above par and Zimbabwe never got their act in order. They lost their skipper Hamilton Masakadza early via a run-out and soon his opening partner Brendon Taylor departed too, for 27, after looking threatening for a wee bit. Sean Williams and Craig Ervine were particularly disappointing and their wickets left Zimbabwe reeling at 44/4.
Ryan Burl hung in the middle for a while but he failed to repeat his heroics of Friday and was dismissed by Rashid Khan. After the dismissal of Burl, the defeat looked inevitable for Zimbabwe.
Brief Scores: Afghanistan 197/5 in 20 overs (Najibullah Zadran 69, Rahmanullah Gurbaz 43; Sean Williams 2/16) beat Zimbabwe 169/7 in 20 overs (Regis Chakbva 42, Brendan Taylor 27; Rashid Khan 2/27) by 28 runs.