T20I Tri-series 2019, Match 5, Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe – Masakadza’s last hurrah, Zimbabwe’s rare win, Rahmanullah’s quick start and more stats

Zimbabwe finally managed to bag a win in the T20I Tri-Series as they took down the Afghanistan team who were flying high in a record start. After electing to bat, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (61) and Hazratullah Zazai (31) added 83 for the first wicket in only 9.3 overs. But Zimbabwe bowlers bounced back by restricting the Afghans to only 155/8.

In his last international appearance, the Zimbabwe skipper Hamilton Masakazda struck a 42-ball 71 with nine boundaries to set up the chase. Contributions from other end helped Zimbabwe to finish the chase with seven wickets and three balls to spare.

All the statistical highlights from Zimbabwe’s sensational win over Afghanistan in Chattogram:

End of many streaks:

1 – This was Zimbabwe’s maiden win in the T20I cricket against Afghanistan. They lost all the 8 T20I matches they played against Afghans prior to this win.

12 – The defeat brought an end to Afghanistan’s 12-match winning streak in T20I format; the longest winning streak for any team in Men’s T20I cricket. Their last T20I defeat came against West Indies during their 2017 tour of Caribbean.

21 – Afghanistan’s 21-match winning streak in the T20Is played in Asia also was halted with this loss. The last time they were defeated by any team in Asia during this format was in the 2016 WT20 against England.

Rashid and Mujeeb streaks also end:

14 – This was the first time in 15 T20Is where Rashid Khan failed to pick up a wicket. He claimed at least one wicket in each of the last 14 T20I matches (13 for Afghanistan, 1 for World XI). Across his previous 13 T20Is, Rashid took two or more wickets in as many as 12 matches.

1 – For the first time, Mujeeb ur Rahman ended up on the losing side in a T20I match. Mujeeb featured in 11 T20Is before this game and ended up on the winning side in all those.

This meant now only one player has featured in more than 10 T20Is with never being on the losing side. Afghanistan’s Fareed Ahmad played 13 T20Is till date and his team won all those 13.

Masakadza finishes off in style:

71 – Hamilton Masakadza’s 71-run knock is the highest individual score by any player in their career’s last T20I game. The previous highest was 62 by Ireland’s Trent Johnston who also scored against Afghanistan in 2013.

71 – Masakadza’s 71 is also the highest individual score for Zimbabwe in a T20I run-chase. Craig Ervine scored an unbeaten 68 against Ireland during the Bready T20I in July this year.

Another youngster rises:

17y 296d – Rahmanullah Gurbaz became only the 2nd player to score a T20I fifty before turning 18. Nepal’s Sundeep Jora was 17 years and 103 days old when he scored an unbeaten 53 for against UAE in January this year.

The match-winning effort:

4/30 – Christopher Mpofu registered figures of 4/30 in this game; the 2nd best bowling figures in the T20I format for Zimbabwe. Wellington Masakadza had the best figures of 4/28 during the 2016 WT20 match against Scotland.

2 – Christopher Mpofu became only the 2nd player to claim 4-wicket hauls in all three formats for Zimbabwe. Elton Chigumbura was the first to do so as he completed this set back in 2009 February only.

A big chase:

156 – The chase of 156 in this match was only the 2nd 150+ successful chase by Zimbabwe in the T20I format. Their highest of 172 came against Ireland in July this year. Interestingly, these are the only wins for Zimbabwe in last 18 T20Is.

156 – The successful chase of 156 is the 3rd highest by any team in T20Is against Afghanistan. Hong Kong chased down 163 and 162 in 2015.