Sinokubonga Nkala
Brandon Moyo, brandonmalvin9@gmail.com
ZIMBABWE had to wait five years before they could beat Afghanistan in a T20I match as they finally did so by four wickets in a last-ball thriller played at Harare Sports Club yesterday.
Before yesterday’s game, the Chevrons’ only win over Afghanistan in the shortest version of the game was in 2019 during the Bangladesh Twenty20 Tri-Series where they played one game and Zimbabwe won by seven wickets.
Since then, Zimbabwe have suffered two 3-0 series whitewashes in 2020/21 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and in 2022 in Harare.
Before that, Zimbabwe had also lost three series by identical 2-0 scores and a 59-run defeat at the 2016 T20 World Cup.
Yesterday’s victory was a much-needed win for the Chevrons who were coming off a poor show against Pakistan in Bulawayo last week.
Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first and were restricted to 144/6 in 20 overs before Zimbabwe went on to chase down the target with the last ball of the match, finishing on 145/6.
Speaking after the game, Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza said the win took some weight off their shoulders as they were now a team under a lot of criticism, especially from the fans. He said it was also a good confidence booster for the players.
He said they, as players, decided to give their all for Zimbabwe.
“Zimbabwe needed that victory. We needed it for the changing room and for the fans to start believing. A win like that basically will tell us where we went wrong. Sometimes, the result is not in our control. We have agreed to give it everything we have for the nation. When we come back to the dressing room, we should feel tired mentally and physically,” said Raza.
The skipper was also full of praise for Tashinga Musekiwa who scored the winning runs. With Zimbabwe needing 11 runs from the last over, Musekiwa comfortably saw the team through.
“We spent a lot of time identifying he (Musekiwa) could be a finisher. It will do him a world of good and hopefully he starts believing in his ability as much as we do. When you have a young squad, if you get a 70-80 and then get a low score . . . but when you have a guy who fights for his country, to have three tough games against Pakistan and then to do that today, could not be happier and prouder (of Musekiwa),” he said.
Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan believes that they did not put enough runs on the board for them to win and believes that they gave away a lot of wickets early on in their innings.
“We wanted to put up a good total on the board. We were only 15-17 runs short, it was still a good total. Nabi and Karim played really well in the middle. We gave away so many wickets early on and in T20s, it is hard to come back. We could have bowled better than that (what we did). As a professional player, you have to adjust — that is something you have to do early in the tour.
“You spend some time and then react. Whenever we come here, we talk about assessing the conditions. Later on, we have the shots. It is hard to bat if you don’t really see the wicket. The way he (Nabi) bowled, he brought us back in the game, he got a crucial wicket. We have so many options, so at times, it is hard to decide as skipper. It is just about deciding what the team needs at that time,” said Khan.
The Chevrons had a brilliant start to the game as Richard Ngarava continued with his fine form in T20Is, striking as early as the third ball of the match, getting Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a three-ball duck.
Ngarava would go on to finish with impressive figures of 3/28 in four overs while Blessing Muzarabani, Trevor Gwandu and Wellington Masakadza took one wicket each.
With Afghanistan struggling on 58/5 in 10,4 overs, a 79-runs sixth wicket partnership between Karim Janat and Mohammad Nabi took them to a decent score. Janat top scored with 54 runs not out while Nabi fell for 44 runs off 27 deliveries.
The Chevrons’ chase got off to a good start with a second wicket partnership of 75 runs between Dion Myers and Brian Bennett before the former fell for 32 runs off 29 balls. Bennett would go on to agonisingly fall one run short of his fourth T20I half-century on 49 runs from as many balls.
With the game seemingly slipping away from Zimbabwe, it was Musekiwa who stood tall in the last over where they needed 11 runs to cross the line.
He managed to hold his nerves, scoring a four off the first ball before taking twos off the next two deliveries. The fourth delivery was a dot and in the fifth, Musekiwa managed to get the scoreboard ticking again with a two before closing it off with a single in the last ball to win the game for the hosts.
Zimbabwe now lead the three-match series 1-0 and the second game is scheduled for tomorrow at the same venue. The game starts at 1.30pm. – @brandon_malvin
mbulelo smpofu
