AFGHANISTAN will look to get off to a winning start under familiar conditions, whereas ZIMBABWE will be looking to put up a good fight. Zimbabwe will want to re-establish itself in a tri-match series, whilst Afghanistan will be looking to continue their dominance over Zimbabwe. After disappointing series in the ODIs, Zimbabwe will be looking for some extra competitiveness in the T20I series.
Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe Head to Head
Zimbabwe is a weak side in T20 cricket, and also the pressure is on Zimbabwe since they lost their ODI series to Afghanistan. Zimbabwe faced a whitewash in a three-match ODI home series, and now Zimbabwe are set to meet Afghanistan in a 3-match T20 series. Recently, Afghanistan started off their 3-match ODI series against Zimbabwe at Harare by winning by an incredible 8 wickets in the first ODI. Zimbabwe has played 12 T20 matches against Afghanistan, with Zimbabwe winning only one game and Afghanistan winning 11.
They won the one-off event, but Bangladesh is a tough side, it is not going to be as easy for them to win against Bangladesh. Now, they would look ahead to a T20I series and will also feel pretty confident of winning it, keeping the World T20 Cup this year in mind.
Afghanistan, on the other hand, had played their most recent T20 series against Bangladesh, where Afghanistan lost the series 2-1, but rallied back to tie the T20I series at 1-1. Prior to the tour, the Zimbabweans lost the T20I series at home against Namibia 3-2, a five-match setback, and it was yet another confidence-sapping campaign. Zimbabwe came into the multi-format series coming off of a 3-2 T20I series loss to Namibia, while Zimbabwe had also lost its most recent ODI series 2-1 against Sri Lanka.
If this was not bad enough for the home team, then the tour now switches to the best form in Afghanistan, which has won against Zimbabwe 11 out of the 12 meetings. Afghanistan has won the past ten T20 Internationals, and nothing about Zimbabwe suggests that they are going to be a side that ends this run.
Afghanistan looks extremely well-balanced as a team and they will be a clear favourite to win the match against Zimbabwe, who are struggling with their batsmen. Zimbabwe has not been the Zimbabwe they have been at their best over the past 2 games, bringing down the totals in the process, which should enable them to take a different approach in order to finish the series on a winning note. Afghanistan has a stronger batting order and bowling unit than ZImbabwe, therefore the chances for a win by Zimbabwe for tonights game has been increased.
The more experienced cricketers performed well during the Afghan tour to Zimbabwe, taking 7 scalps from 3 matches with a 3.66 economization and good figures of 4-52. Rashid Khan has been the leading wicket-taker at the ODS for Zimbabwe this year, taking 11 wickets at an economy of 3.85.
Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe Teams
Afghanistan Squad: Najibullah Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Hazratullah Zazai, Ihsanullah Janat, Mohammad Nabi(c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Rashid Khan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Azmatullah Omarzai, Noor Ahmad, Usman Ghani, Karim Janat, Nijat Masood, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Afsar Zazai
Zimbabwe Squad: Craig Ervine(c), Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva(w), Tendai Chatara, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Clive Madande, Wesley Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Ainsley Ndlovu, Sikandar Raza, Donald Tiripano, Milton Shumba