AFG vs ZIM 2026/27, AFG vs ZIM third T20I Match Report, November 01, 2026

Afghanistan 81 for 3 (Zadran 25*, Masuku 2-21) beat Zimbabwe 79 (Burl 30, Noor 5-13, Tarakhail 2-14) by seven wickets

Zadran’s facet overhauled a paltry goal of 80 in simply 49 balls to report their second-best win by way of balls remaining within the format. The win secured Afghanistan a sweep over Zimbabwe and their twenty second T20I win in 24 matches.

Pacers supplies pitch-perfect begin for Afghanistan

This was a typical Sharjah pitch, anticipated to play gradual because the match progressed. It supported a tinge of grass which made negotiating the quicker bowlers early within the innings a troublesome proposition. And whereas the brand new ball did its methods, transferring extravagantly within the air – particularly when Fazalhaq Farooqi, who missed the final match, got here on to bowl – the Zimbabwean top-order’s questionable shot choice allowed the Afghanistan quick bowlers a possibility to make early inroads.

Farooqi had Harmless Kaia nick one to the wicketkeeper as he angled his final supply of the sport’s first over throughout the batter. Azmatullah Omarzai, the hero of the final match and Participant of the Sequence, had Brian Bennett caught at mid-off with a floated-up supply outdoors off firstly of the second over. Afghanistan had picked up consecutive wickets to scale back Zimbabwe to eight for two.

Their captain, Sikander Raza, regarded to counterattack after dealing with seven balls for less than two runs. When debutant Abdullah Tarakhail was launched into the assault, Raza miscued a whack down the bottom to mid-off, handing the 25-year-old his maiden worldwide wicket with solely his second ball.

Burl affords semblance of resistance

With the powerplay approaching its finish and Zimbabwe struggling for runs, Ryan Burl bought into the act towards Omarzai within the fifth over with back-to-back boundaries. Although the primary of them had come off a forefront, which flew previous the keeper, the second was a press release shot as he slapped a size ball over mid-on for 4. He dispatched Tarakhail twice in the direction of the fence within the subsequent over to tug his group to 37 for 3 by the tip of the powerplay. Twenty-one of them had come from Burl’s bat.

This sequence was performed and not using a DRS system for the gamers, and there have been a couple of controversial calls by the umpires on this match, considered one of them accounting for Burl’s dismissal. One earlier resulted in a quarrel between Burl and Rashid Khan after an LBW shout was turned down. Burl was thumped on his entrance pad within the line of stumps as he missed a reverse sweep and the umpiring determination irked the legspinner.

He engaged in a heated change with Burl three balls later, and the 2 needed to be separated by Ahmad Shah Pakteen, one of many two on-field umpires. The 2 continued to have interaction with one another with hostility on the completion of the over, compelling Farooq Khan, the opposite on-field umpire, to interrupt them aside this time.

Mockingly, within the subsequent over, Abdollah Ahmadzai had Burl dismissed lbw on a ball which gave the impression to be sliding down the leg facet as two-and-a-half stumps have been seen on the time of impression. He made 30 off 29 in an innings wherein the following finest rating was 10 off 17 by Wessly Madhevere.

Noor too sizzling to deal with for Zimbabwe

By the tip of the following over – the eleventh of the innings – Afghanistan have been bowling to Zimbabwe’s tail, because of Noor Ahmad, whose three of his 5 wickets got here in 4 balls on this over as Zimbabwe struggled to choose his variations.

Madhevere appeared desperate to counter with an tried reverse sweep towards Noor Ahmad within the subsequent over. His failure so as to add any runs to the overall off it then compelled him right into a hoick down the bottom, which resulted in a stumping as he was overwhelmed by the shortage of tempo on the flighted improper’un.

Noor got here across the wicket to Tafadzwa Tsiga on the following ball and had him caught within the slips off one other improper ‘un. Tadiwanashe Marumani handed him his third wicket, a ball after his hat-trick supply – a floated-up one, which tempted Marumani to go large. The batter holed out to long-off, the place Omarzai took a superb diving catch.

Noor took the final two wickets throughout his subsequent two overs, the final of them ending Zimbabwe’s innings in 14.3 overs for less than 79 runs, their second-lowest complete within the format.

Following his career-best return, Noor now averages 5.66 towards Zimbabwe for his 9 wickets. His earlier finest figures of 4 for 10 had additionally come towards them at Harare in 2022.

Afghanistan race to the goal

Afghanistan had poor begins to the powerplay within the first two T20Is of this sequence. Ibrahim Zadran talked about on the toss that the group was desperate to rectify that. The paltry nature of the goal allowed them to play with freedom. Mohammad Akram, promoted to open in Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s absence, swung wildly in any respect 5 balls he confronted. The primary three of those pictures introduced him boundaries, however he was caught on the final – at mid-off within the opening over.

Zimbabwe picked up a few wickets within the fifth over by Ernest Masuku, however by then, Sediqullah Atal’s boundary-laden innings had already introduced Afghanistan near victory.

Omarzai carved Nyamhuri out of the bottom with a six over deep third, as Afghanistan completed the powerplay at a snug 54 for 3. Zadran smoked 4 boundaries off Masuku, and the ultimate rites of the chase have been delivered by Omarzai. He performed a hoick down the bottom off Vincent Masekesa’s long-hop, smashing the ball for an enormous six, as Afghanistan recorded their second-biggest win by way of balls remaining in T20Is, additionally sealing a 3-0 sequence sweep.

Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi is a cricket journalist based mostly in Lahore