that will be that! Afghanistan level the series and we are going into a decider! Slanted in full on middle adn off. Muzarabani swings for the hills and misses the ball by a massive margin. The ball keeps coming in with the angle and knocks back leg stump. A fitting image for what has been a dominant display and Afghanistan win by 50 runs!
Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan, 2nd T20I at Harare, ZIM vs AFG, Dec 13 2024 - Ball by Ball Commentary
RESULT
2nd T20I, Harare, December 13, 2024, Afghanistan tour of Zimbabwe
New
ZIM
Full commentary
5:11pm That will be all from us for this game. We hope you enjoyed our coverage and look forward to having your company for all the cricket lined up in the next few days. Until next time, this is goodbye from all of us!
Darwish Rasooli is the Player of the Match for his 42-ball 58, which was also his maiden T20I fifty!
Rashid Khan, Afghanistan captain: The area we are still struggling is the top order. The way Darwish played, it was very impressive. We were struggling to find someone in that position, so very happy. The way the guys bowled, it was very impressive. We missed our lines and lengths in the last game. It was about keeping it simple, hitting the right areas and then seeing what would happen (today). It is a big ground to one side and you have to adjust yourself. Not many sixes were hit today and the other day as well. It is about how you play more along the ground and play more cricketing shots. It is not impossible to score more runs at the end but at the start, you have to adapt and spend some tough time. Then, it gets easier. We are always searching for someone who bats at four. The target is for the next World Cup. Number three-four - that is the area we are looking at. The good thing is he (Rasooli) has done well (in the Emerging players tournament). The way he was looking good in the nets was impressive and I was waiting for him to take that into the game.
Sikandar Raza, Zimbabwe captain: (On what went wrong) The batting. Seems to be our Achilles heel. Still struggling to score that total. Has been a problem for some time. There is quality in the dressing room and I am backing the boys to do the job, but certainly painful to see us failing to do the job. Our openers were starting to find a bit of a pattern on how to go about it. Matter of time before these three (the top three of Bennett, Marumani and Myers) win us a game on their own. We were in the game at (40 for two) but could not capitalize after the powerplay. Our bowling and fielding was fantastic. It was a better wicket than yesterday, and we were confident we could get it (the chase) done. That is why this (defeat) hurts. These guys (Afghanistan) are semi-finalists of the T20 World Cup. If you want to beat them, you have to beat them in all departments. We will find character and courage in the dressing room, which we sure will have lots of, to beat them (in all departments).
4:52pm A fairly one-sided game in the end. At the half-way stage, it seemed Afghanistan had enough and they bowled like a team that felt so too. Naveen picked up Marumani early, with Myers also perishing inside the powerplay. Madhevere could not get going either and once Afghanistan introduced spin in tandem, the writing was on the wall for the hosts. Raza waged a lone battle but the runs he scored only acted as consolation rather than as a catalyst for a turnaround.
As for the wickets, Rashid and Naveen bagged three apiece. Mujeeb also bowled much better than Wednesday, with Fareed and Omarzai chipping in whenever called upon, ensuring that Afghanistan, after a blip two days ago, are now back on track.
17.4
W
Fareed Ahmad to Muzarabani, OUT
Blessing Muzarabani b Fareed Ahmad 1 (3b 0x4 0x6 10m) SR: 33.33
17.3
1
Fareed Ahmad to Gwandu, 1 run
very full just outside off. Gwandu digs it out towards mid off
17.2
•
Fareed Ahmad to Gwandu, no run
slower ball dangled full on leg stump. Gwandu does not pick it and somehow plays inside the line. The ball breezes past the outside edge and misses leg stump by a whisker
17.1
1
Fareed Ahmad to Muzarabani, 1 run
full just outside off. Muzarabani gets his front foot out of the way and plays the perfect straight drive. Back past the bowler for a single
Fareed to bowl his last
end of over 176 runs • 1 wicket
ZIM: 101/9CRR: 5.94 • RRR: 17.66 • Need 53 runs from 18b
Trevor Gwandu0 (3b)
Blessing Muzarabani0 (1b)
Naveen-ul-Haq 4-0-19-3
Rashid Khan 4-0-20-3
16.6
•
Naveen-ul-Haq to Gwandu, no run
right up in the blockhole on off. Gwandu gets his bat down in time and keeps it out
Shane: "The guy who predicted ZIM was gonna get bundled below 100 was so close, I say moral victory for him!"
16.5
•
Naveen-ul-Haq to Gwandu, no run
slower ball on a full length outside off. Gwandu has no clue about it and beats him on the inside as it grips in the surface and spins back in
16.4
•
Naveen-ul-Haq to Gwandu, no run
back of a length outside off. Gwandu has a flat-footed fence at it away from his body and is beaten for pace
Gwandu is the last batter in
16.3
W
Naveen-ul-Haq to Raza, OUT
goes high up, and taken by Omarzai! That could well be the game! Slower delivery dug into the track outside off. Raza has no option but to go after it. The lack of pace, though, leads to his undoing. Cloths it completely and Omarzai, well inside the deep mid wicket fence, gobbles up the chance. Raza walks back dejected, and that is perhaps a captain who knows this game has slipped past him and his team!
Sikandar Raza c Azmatullah Omarzai b Naveen-ul-Haq 35 (30b 2x4 1x6 47m) SR: 116.66
16.2
4
Naveen-ul-Haq to Raza, FOUR runs
Raza keeps on fighting! Low full toss wide outside off. Perhaps a wide yorker gone wrong. Raza peels the outer cover off the ball and knifes it past short third!
57 off 23
16.1
2
Naveen-ul-Haq to Raza, 2 runs
into the blockhole outside off. Raza advances and squeezes it past extra cover for a couple of runs
Naveen to bowl out too
end of over 164 runs • 2 wickets
ZIM: 95/8CRR: 5.93 • RRR: 14.75 • Need 59 runs from 24b
Blessing Muzarabani0 (1b)
Sikandar Raza29 (27b 1x4 1x6)
Rashid Khan 4-0-20-3
Naveen-ul-Haq 3-0-13-2
15.6
•
Rashid Khan to Muzarabani, no run
length outside off. Muzarabani resists the temptation to poke at it and lets it go
Muzarabani now. Gurbaz chirps that he is happy to finally see the pacer bat
15.5
W
Rashid Khan to Ngarava, OUT
stumps go splat, and Rashid, just like that, has three! Back of a length on middle stump. Ngarava has a wild whoosh across the line without watching the ball and once that happens, there is only one result possible. Rashid sports a smile on his face, even as Raza, stood at the bowler's end, watches on in disbelief!
Richard Ngarava b Rashid Khan 0 (1b 0x4 0x6 2m) SR: 0
15.4
1
Rashid Khan to Raza, 1 run
googly on a shortish length on leg stump. Raza hops back and tugs it towards deep mid wicket. Ngarava was okay to come back for the second but Raza was not as interested
15.4
2w
Rashid Khan to Ngarava, 2 wide
fired a mile down leg. Ngarava lets it go and the keeper cannot gather either. Two easy runs for the hosts
Ngarava in at 9. The brief might be to get his captain back on strike as much as possible
15.3
W
Rashid Khan to Masakadza, OUT
Rashid has another! Dangles the carrot on off and Masakadza bites. Looks for the massive slog sweep over cow corner but only picks out Naveen on the deep mid wicket fence. That was the short boundary, so the shot was on. The execution, however, was not up to scratch, and Raza continues to run out of partners!
Wellington Masakadza c Naveen-ul-Haq b Rashid Khan 2 (4b 0x4 0x6 5m) SR: 50
15.2
1
Rashid Khan to Raza, 1 run
back of a length outside off. Raza backs away and slaps it towards long off
15.1
•
Rashid Khan to Raza, no run
fired in full outside off. Raza is happy to defend
63 off 30, and it is pretty much Raza or bust for Zimbabwe here. Rashid still has an over left. Nabi has not bowled at all. And the seamers have four among themselves. Rashid to bowl out
end of over 154 runs • 1 wicket
ZIM: 91/6CRR: 6.06 • RRR: 12.60 • Need 63 runs from 30b
Sikandar Raza27 (24b 1x4 1x6)
Wellington Masakadza2 (3b)
Naveen-ul-Haq 3-0-13-2
Mujeeb Ur Rahman 4-0-30-2
14.6
1
Naveen-ul-Haq to Raza, 1 run
off-pace again, on a shortish length wide outside off. Raza guides it towards deep backward point
14.5
1
Naveen-ul-Haq to Masakadza, 1 run
slow and short outside off. Masakadza slaps it to Rashid at mid off, who fumbles and makes the single much easier for the batters
14.4
•
Naveen-ul-Haq to Masakadza, no run
slower delivery into the track outside off. Comes off very slow and not sure Masakadza picked that out of the hand either. Way too early into the stroke
Language
English
Win Probability
AFG 100%
AFGZIM100%50%100%
Over 18 • ZIM 103/10
Blessing Muzarabani b Fareed Ahmad 1 (3b 0x4 0x6 10m) SR: 33.33
Afghanistan won by 50 runsW
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