Afghanistan 186 for 6 (Nabi 52, Shenwari 43, Panyangara 3-32) beat Zimbabwe 127 (Rashid 3-11, Hamid 2-11) by 59 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Mohammad Nabi came in at the score of 63 for 4 and powered Afghanistan to 186 for 6 © ICC/Getty Images
Afghanistan earned the right to a third appearance in the main draw of the World T20 with a comprehensive win over Full Members Zimbabwe in what was a knockout to advance to the next round. Mohammad Nabi’s career-best 52 helped Afghanistan recover from a mid-innings wobble and build on a strong start to post a total Zimbabwe never looked capable of chasing.
After two scrappy wins in the qualifiers, Zimbabwe were given their biggest task when Afghanistan took on their bowling and then demanded a highest-ever successful run chase from them. Although Zimbabwe’s top order did not fold as dramatically as it had in previous appearances, they could not keep up with the required run rate, especially against an attack that strangled them with spin.
Full report to follow…
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s South Africa correspondent
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo