Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan Match Preview, 2nd T20I

Afghanistan will be facing a make-or-break situation as they take on Zimbabwe in the second T20I in the three-match series at the Harare Sports Club on Friday, December 13.

The Blue Tigers lost the first T20I, which turned out to be a low-scoring thriller at the same venue. After losing half their side for 58 runs inside 11 overs, Karim Janat and Mohammad Nabi's 79-run partnership off 49 balls helped Afghanistan get to a fighting total of 144/6.

Zimbabwe lost the wicket of opener Tadiwanashe Marumani early in their innings before Brian Bennett and Dion Myers forged a crucial 75-run partnership off 62 balls to put their team in a position of strength. However, Afghanistan bounced back strongly and kept picking wickets at regular intervals to have the hosts in a spot of bother at 128/6 in 18.4 overs.

Wellington Masakadza scored six runs off the last two deliveries of the penultimate over to leave Zimbabwe with 11 runs to win off the final six deliveries of the match. Tashinga Musekiwa held his nerves and took his team over the line off the last ball. Zimbabwe registered a four-wicket win as their fans had a field day at the picturesque venue.

While Richard Ngarava starred with the ball for Zimbabwe, Naveen-ul-Haq was the pick of the bowlers for Afghanistan. The former finished with figures of 3/28, while the latter scalped three wickets for 33 runs.

Also Check - Twitter Reactions: Zimbabwe register thrilling four-wicket win over Afghanistan

Match Details

Pitch Report

The pitch of the renowned Harare Sports Club will not be easy for batting. The batters will have to give themselves some time in the middle to adjust to the conditions before going for the extravagant shots. Spinners will come into the game as the ball gets older. Winning the toss and opting to bat first could be the better ploy as conditions could slow down in the second innings and chasing is going to be difficult. 160-plus can be a winning score on this ground.

Also Check: Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan 2024 News

Head-to-Head Record

Predicted Playing XIs

Zimbabwe:

T Marumani (wk), Brian Bennett, D Myers, Sikandar Raza (c), Ryan Burl, W Madhevere/Tinotenda Maposa, Tashinga Musekiwa, Wellington Masakadza, R Ngarava, B Muzarabani, Trevor Gwandu.

Afghanistan:

Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediqullah Atal, Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Ishaq (wk), Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (c), Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad.