Afghanistan 129 for 3 (Ibrahim 57*, Evans 2-21) beat Zimbabwe 125 (Raza 37, Rashid 3-9. Mujeeb 2-26, Abdollah 2-28) by seven wickets
Afghanistan cruised to a series victory over Zimbabwe, with Ibrahim Zadran backing up a disciplined bowling performance by scoring his second fifty in as many T20Is. Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Abdollah Ahmadzai and Rashid Khan had earlier limited the hosts to 125 all out in Harare, setting up a straight-forward chase.
Mujeeb stifles
Zimbabwe tried to do the right thing. Their batters realised the importance of getting set, and attempted to regroup each time wickets fell. There was no major collapse this time, but there was no redemption with a big score or partnership from any of their batters either.
Every time they tried to take a risk, it backfired: Dion Myers was the first to be dismissed. He was doing well against Mujeeb, only to sweep him straight to short fine. He was aiming to clear the fielder because there was no one in the deep, but the calculation did not pay off, despite the powerplay restrictions still being in force.
Brendan Taylor was less adventurous, perhaps wanting to make amends for a low-percentage shot that led to a first-ball dismissal on Wednesday. But Mujeeb kept building up the pressure during his opening spell. Soon, it was the last over of the powerplay. Zimbabwe were already 34 for 2, having only hit three boundaries. Trying to exploit the field restrictions before they ran out once again, Taylor too was caught at cover, trying to hit the bowler over his head.
Abdollah the enforcer
The pitch was on the slower side - except whenever Abdollah Ahmadzai came on to bowl. The 22-year-old fast bowler is all hustle and bustle, hitting the deck and troubling batters with bounce. Ryan Burl, who was in the middle of patching things up with his captain Sikandar Raza, fell trying to swat one of Abdollah's well-directed short balls.
Zimbabwe were suddenly 57 for 4. Once again, they had lost a wicket just when a recovery was being staged. They could not score more than a run a ball in seven of the first 10 overs they faced.
Raza's resistance
Raza tried to do his best to shepherd the inning. He came in during the fifth over and showed that run-scoring was still possible, hitting two fours off his first two balls - though both of them were overpitched and allowed him the freedom of his rapid hands. His best shot was an inside out, one-bounce four over extra cover, against a yorker gone wrong from Abdollah.
All this happened while the Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan was tending to an injury to his right hand in the field. He had only bowled one over till then. When he picked the ball back up in the 17th, he knocked over Raza. The wicket left Zimbabwe's score at 104 for 6, and then, Afghanistan ran through the tail. Zimbabwe's highest partnership ended up being just 24 runs.
Ibrahim anchors the chase
Afghanistan ransacked nine boundaries in the powerplay, three times as many as their opposition. Some of these were the result of good strokeplay, while the others were just them making use of the width and a chance to get under the ball - two things that every batter wants on a sluggish pitch, and Zimbabwe's bowlers offered to them.
Ibrahim Zadran helped himself to his second consecutive T20I fifty, though this one entailed more hard work. Afghanistan went at barely run-a-ball for seven straight overs after the powerplay. However, they had done enough damage while the field was up, scoring 54 of the required 126. They required only 12 more overs after the powerplay to knock off the remaining runs.
Questions, however, remain over Afghanistan's middle order: Sediqullah Atal - who had turned his right ankle while fielding and required attention - and Darwish Rasooli combined to score just 25 runs in 32 balls through the middle overs.