It was the two usual suspects who once again stood tall to help Afghanistan brush aside Zimbabwe by five wickets in the first T20I in Sharjah on Monday (February 5). Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan, who have played a huge role in Afghanistan's rise in world cricket ensured that Mohammad Shahzad enjoyed a triumphant return to international cricket.
Shahzad, playing his first game since returning from the suspension, raced away to a 10-ball 20 in his usual fashion, hitting two sixes in the process including his trademark helicopter shot. But an under-edge led to his departure which faintly raised hopes of a Zimbabwean comeback in a chase of 121. Asghar Stanikzai and Nabi then rounded off the powerplay in fine fashion with a flurry of boundaries before Tendai Chatara trapped the skipper leg before wicket.
The wicket didn't deter Afghanistan though as Nabi and Sharafuddin Ashraf slammed a six each off Graeme Cremer in the tenth over that brought down the equation to 44 from 60. But two wickets in the space of eight balls caused some concern in the Afghanistan camp with the hopes resting firmly on Nabi's shoulders. The veteran didn't succumb to the pressure and counter-attacked to catch Zimbabwe offguard. After pulling one over deep midwicket off Ryan Burl, Nabi rounded off the following over with another six to ease the tension as Afghanistan finished off proceedings five balls later.
Nabi also snared a wicket earlier in the only over he bowled in the Zimbabwean innings. After being asked to bat, Zimbabwe had raced to 43 for no loss in the first four overs. Strangely, Hamilton Masakadza had to take a backseat with Solomon Mire doing the damage early on. He was particularly severe against Ashraf as the left-arm spinner was hit for three sixes and a four in a single over. Stanikzai then introduced Aftab Alam into the attack in search of a wicket and the move paid off. Nabi was in the thick of things once again as Mire pulled one straight to him at short midwicket immediately after the partnership went past fifty.
With the boundaries drying up following Mire's dismissal, Masakadza too perished while attempting a release shot. Apart from losing both the openers, what hurt Zimbabwe the most were the departures of Brendon Taylor and Sikandar Raza in the very next over as they slipped to 65 for 4 at the halfway mark.
The turnaround was dramatic and it was one from which the Zimbabweans never recovered from. While Nabi got rid of Peter Moor, Rashid ran through the lower order picking three wickets. Zimbabwe were in serious danger of getting bowled out for less than 100 but Malcolm Waller slammed Alam for a couple of fours and a six off the final over to help them reach 120, a total that was polished off in 14.5 overs. The two teams meet again in 24 hours for the second T20I.
Brief scores: Zimbabwe 120/9 in 20 overs (Solomon Mire 34, Malcolm Waller 27*; Rashid Khan 3-19, Sharafuddin Ashraf 2-31) lost to Afghanistan 121/5 in 14.4 overs (Mohammad Nabi 40*, Mohammad Shahzad 20; Blessing Muzarabani 2-36) by five wickets.
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