Afghanistan sweep Zimbabwe 3-0 in T20Is, Noor Ahmad takes five

Noor Ahmad took career-best figures of 5/13 as Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by seven wickets in the third T20I in Sharjah on Sunday, completing a 3-0 sweep of the series.

Afghanistan chose to bowl first and Zimbabwe were bowled out for 79 in 14.3 overs. Afghanistan replied with 81/3 in 8.1 overs.

The spell

Noor Ahmad finished with 5/13 from 3.3 overs and cleaned up the middle and lower order. Ryan Burl’s 30 off 29 balls was the only sizeable score in the Zimbabwe innings.

Abdullah Tarakhail added 2/14 from his three overs. Fazalhaq Farooqi, Azmatullah Omarzai and Abdullah Ahmadzai took a wicket each, and Rashid Khan went for 7 runs in his two overs.

The chase

Mohammad Akram made 14 off 5 balls and Sediqullah Atal 20 off 14 to give Afghanistan a quick start. Ibrahim Zadran (25 not out off 17) and Omarzai (18 not out off 12) then saw the chase through. Ernest Masuku took two wickets for Zimbabwe.

How the series went

Afghanistan opened the tour of the UAE with a 37-run win on 27 October, posting 177 and bowling Zimbabwe out for 140. They then won the second T20I on 29 October by 19 runs, making 221/7.

Omarzai scored 116 off 50 balls in that second game, while Sikandar Raza hit a century for Zimbabwe in a losing cause as Zimbabwe finished on 202/5.

What’s next

The two sides now move to the longer format. The first Test starts on Thursday, 5 November at 11:00 AM IST, and the second Test follows on Friday, 13 November at 11:00 AM IST.