Najibullah Zadran and Muhammad Nabi led Afghanistan They beat Zimbabwe by 21 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the Twenty20 International series in Harare on Sunday.
The tourists won the toss and scored 170-5 in 20 overs on a batting friendly track, while Zimbabwe posted a score of 149-7 in reply.
The third and final T20I is scheduled for Tuesday with Afghanistan chasing the white-ball tour after winning the One Day International series 3-0.
“Zimbabwe batted very well, especially (Alexander) Raza and (Innocent) Kaia. When Rashid Khan took Raza’s wicket, it was most important for us because it changed the game,” captain Nabi told AFP.
“(Bowler Najit Masood) has been fantastic over the years – he has been playing very well in domestic leagues and T20 leagues as well. He deserves to be in the national team.”
Zimbabwe’s top scorer Kaia, who scored his maiden half-century, got a boost despite the loss.
“We bowled well today and made good use of our powerplays. We lost wickets here and there, but I think we were in the game.
“We just need to fix our middle-order batting – we need to rotate the strike more and look for boundary options.
“I am happy to score my maiden fifty as I have faced some of the best spinners in the world like Rashid and Nabi.
“They are Indian Premier League players, so I consider it a positive for myself. I scored runs independently of his bowling, so I think it’s a positive.”
– fast, aggressive prophet –
Before being run out on the first ball of the final over, Zadran added 70 runs for the fourth wicket with captain Nabi.
He picked up where he left off on Saturday when his unbeaten 44 chased down a thrilling run to help Afghanistan win by six wickets.
On Sunday, he scored 57 runs in 46 balls which included six fours and a six. This was the seventh half-century of the 30-year-old left-hander.
The captain and all-rounder was quicker and more aggressive than Nabi Zadran, scoring an average of two runs off a ball in his unbeaten 43-run knock which included one four and four sixes.
Opener Hazratullah Zazai scored 28 runs with the help of three fours and two sixes before he became three victims of wicketkeeper Regis Chakbwa.
Right-arm fast medium pacer Tendai Chatra was Zimbabwe’s most successful bowler, taking the wickets of Zazai and fellow opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz (1).
In reply, opener Kaia excelled, batting from the start of the innings to the second last ball before being run out for 54. His virtual run-a-ball innings included two fours and a six.
He was involved in profitable partnerships with Tadiwanase Marumani (30) and Raza (41), which offered a glimmer of hope that Zimbabwe could win and level the series.
But they were always running behind the run rate and when Raza was clean bowled by Khan with 14 balls to spare and Zimbabwe at 136-4, a collapse ensued.
Rashid was the most successful bowler, scoring 2-32 runs in four overs.
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