Afghanistan Beat Zimbabwe by 7 Wickets — Noor Ahmad's Maiden Five-For Seals a 3-0 Sweep
Noor Ahmad took 5 for 13, three of them in four balls, as Zimbabwe fell for 79 in Sharjah. Afghanistan needed only 49 balls to chase it down.
Match Summary
| Zimbabwe | 79 (14.3 overs): Ryan Burl 30 (29), Wessly Madhevere 10 (17) |
| Afghanistan bowling | Noor Ahmad 3.3-0-13-5, Abdullah Tarakhail 3-0-14-2, Fazalhaq Farooqi 2-0-10-1 |
| Afghanistan | 81/3 (8.1 overs): Ibrahim Zadran 25* (17), Sediqullah Atal 20 (14), Azmatullah Omarzai 18* (12) |
| Zimbabwe bowling | Ernest Masuku 2-0-21-2, Blessing Muzarabani 3-0-31-1 |
| Result | Afghanistan won by 7 wickets (71 balls remaining). Afghanistan win the series 3-0 |
| Toss | Afghanistan, chose to field |
| Player of the Match | Noor Ahmad |
| Player of the Series | Azmatullah Omarzai, 141 runs and 4 wickets |
| Venue | Sharjah Cricket Stadium |
Zimbabwe were already in trouble when Noor came on, but Ryan Burl had at least given them a pulse. Then the 11th over took it away. Wessly Madhevere was stumped, beaten by the flight of a wrong'un. Tafadzwa Tsiga was caught in the slips first ball. Noor missed out on the hat-trick, but Tadiwanashe Marumani holed out to long-off a ball later, where Omarzai took a fine diving catch. From 59 for 4 they were 60 for 7.
Noor came back for the last two wickets to finish with 5 for 13, his first five-for. His previous best, 4 for 10, also came against Zimbabwe, at Harare in 2022. Wrist spin can make good batters look lost, and this was one of those evenings.
The new ball did the early damage. Farooqi had Innocent Kaia caught behind off the last ball of the first over, Omarzai removed Brian Bennett with the next, and debutant Abdullah Tarakhail took Sikandar Raza with his second ball in international cricket. Zimbabwe were 13 for 3.
Burl's 30 off 29 was the only innings of substance. With no DRS in this series, there were disputed umpiring calls, and Burl and Rashid Khan had to be separated by the umpires after a turned-down lbw shout. Burl was then given out lbw in the next over, to a ball that appeared to be sliding down leg. Even so, 79 is Zimbabwe's second-lowest T20I total, and a poor decision or two does not explain that.
Afghanistan had started slowly in the first two matches and wanted that put right. Mohammad Akram, promoted to open in Rahmanullah Gurbaz's absence, swung at all five balls he faced and hit three of them for four before being caught at mid-off. Masuku took two wickets in the fifth over, but Omarzai ended the game with a huge six. By balls remaining, this was their second-biggest win in T20Is.
We called Afghanistan heavy favourites to complete the sweep, and they did. We wrote that a Raza masterclass could shift the narrative, and he made 2 off 8. We named Rashid Khan as the foundation of the attack, and he did go for just 7 in two overs, but he took no wicket. The man who won the game was not in our preview at all, so that is a miss we will own.
The two sides now move on to the Test series. Zimbabwe will need to find answers to wrist spin quickly, and Afghanistan go in with a clean sweep behind them.
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