Afghanistan romped into the main round of the ICC World T20 after crushing Zimbabwe by a whopping 59 runs in their final Group B qualifying contest, in Nagpur on Saturday.
In what was a do-or-die match, the Afghans outplayed Zimbabwe in all departments, by first scoring a challenging 186/6 in 20 overs and then bowling them out for 127 in 19.4 overs.
Afghanistan won all their three qualifying-round matches having won their first two games against Scotland and Hong Kong respectively.
Afghanistan have been clubbed with England, Sri Lanka, West Indies and South Africa for the Super 10 and will open their campaign against Sri Lanka at the EdenGardens on March 17.
"This was a very important match for us. People in Afghanistan are crazy about cricket. They love the game, so (winning it) was very important for us," victorious captain Asghar Stanikzai said.
The Afghans turned the match on its head during the last 10 overs of their innings with Mohammed Nabi (52 off 32 balls) and Samiullah Shenwari (43 off 37 balls) adding 98 runs for the fifth wicket. Nabi's innings had four boundaries and two sixes while Shenwari hit a six and a four.
In the last 10, Afghanistan scored a massive 113 runs after the first 10 overs produced 73 for the loss of four wickets.
Opener Mohammed Shahzad also did a great job by going after the bowling during the Powerplay overs, notching up 40 off 23 balls with seven boundaries and a six.
All the Zimbabwe pacers, who had decent outings so far, went for runs. Wellington Masakadza (0/31), Tendai Chatara (0/34 in 3 overs), Donaldo Tiripano (1/41 in 3 overs) all went for runs. The only successful bowler was Tinashe Panayngara (3/32 in 4 overs).
The best part about Afghanistan’s batting was their fearless strokeplay. If the fine leg was up, they hit the lap shot, played the upper cut over third man and punished any loose deliveries that came their way.
Zimbabwe were never really in contention as they could score only 39 in the Powerplay overs with field restrictions on. They lost wickets at regular intervals with none of their batsmen crossing 20-run mark.
Leg-spinner Rashid Khan (3/11) was the pick of the Afghan bowlers while Hamid Hassan (2/11), Samiullah Shenwari (1/31) also chipped in with wickets.
But Nabi, (1/29) who also got a wicket with the ball, was adjudged man-of-the-match.
Brief Scores:
Afghanistan 186/6 in 20 overs (Mohammad Nabi 52, Samiullah Shenwari 43, Mohammed Shahzad 40, Tinashe Panyangara 3/32) vs Zimbabwe 127 in 19.4 overs (Tinashe Panyangara 17, Hamid Hassan 2/11, Rashid Khan 3/11). Afghanistan won by 59 runs.
Image: Afghanistan cricket players celebrate a Zimbabwean wicket on Saturday
Photograph: ICC/Twitter
