Omarzai, Rashid lead Afghanistan to T20I series win

KABUL (Pajhwok): Afghanistan has defeated Zimbabwe by three wickets in the third and final T20 match to win the series 2-1, according to a media report on Saturday.

Afghanistan won the toss and decided to field first. The men in blue managed to restrict the host side to 127 runs in 19.5 overs.

Captain Rashid Khan shined and took four wickets in four overs conceding 27 runs. Naveen and Mujeeb, Umarzai also took two wickets each.

Chasing the target, Afghanistan were down at 45 for 4 after seven overs in their pursuit of 128 to beat Zimbabwe in the third T20I, and with that, win the series.

That could have been the point at which the game went Zimbabwe’s way. But Faraz Akram then bowled an 11-ball over with five wides to give Afghanistan the breathing space they needed, and the fifth-wicket pair of Azmatullah Omarzai and Gulbadin Naib eased into the repair job.

Omarzai cut and pulled for boundaries during his stand with Naib, as they otherwise ticked along steadily – they added 48 for the fifth wicket, with the required rate below six runs an over.

Omarzai scored 34 runs of 37 balls while Nabi contributed 24 of 18 balls taking Afghanistan to three wickets win over host side.

Naveen was declared player of the series while Omarzai was declared player of the series.

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