Afghanistan batsmen, Mohammed Nabi and Najibullah Zardan went all out against Zimbabwe in a T20I match on Saturday, where they hit seven consecutive sixes in seven balls. Thereafter, the Afghans went on to beat Zimbabwe by 28 runs in the second match of the tri-nation series at Dhaka.
Batting first, Afghanistan were 123 for four in 16 overs when Nabi decided to take on Tendai Chatara in the 17th over, smashing four back-to-back sixes on the last four deliveries of his over. The Afghanistan all-rounder recently announced his retirement from Test cricket after playing just his third Test to focus on the limited-over formats.
In the next over, when Zardan came on strike, he followed the footsteps of his former captain and smashed three sixes in a row on the first three balls of the 18th over by Neville Madziva. Nabi and Zardan’s 42 runs in 7 balls helped Afghanistan post a competitive total of 198 runs to win for Zimbabwe. Their 107-run stand was also the second highest fifth-wicket partnership in T20Is.
An amazing partnership of 107 between @iamnajibzadran and @MohammadNabi007 off just 40 deliveries ensured Afghanistan set a big target of 198 runs for @ZimCricketv in their first match of the T20I Triseries.#AFGvZIM #Triseries @Farhan_YusEfzai pic.twitter.com/HYwevoIYLC
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) September 14, 2019
This was Zimbabwe’s second loss in the tri-nation series after they faced a three-wicket defeat against Bangladesh in the series opener at Dhaka.
Afghanistan will next play hosts Bangladesh on the same venue as both the teams move to their second game after registering one win each in the tri-nation series on 15th September.
Feature Image Courtesy: AFP/ Munir Uz Zaman
