Afghanistan and Zimbabwe faced each other for the 2 Tests and 3 T20s matches series in UAE in the month of March 2021. The tournament started with the 2 Test matches series.
The first Test match was played at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on 2 March 2021. Asghar Afghan won the toss and decided to have the bat in hand first. Afghanistan did not start well and its top order was demolished by Muzarabani and Nyauchi. Afghanistan could not stand back and surrender in just 47 overs at the low score of 131 runs only. Muzarabani bowled nicely and took 4 wickets and Nyauchi got 3 wickets in the first inning. Afsar Zazai with 37 runs was the top scorer for Afghanistan.
Zimbabwe batted far better than the Afghan in their first inning and added a total of 250 runs on the scoreboard and got the lead of 119 runs. Sean Williams again showed his excellent form and struck a century. Afghanistan in the second inning continued their flop show and bowled out at only 135 runs. Ibrahim Zadran performed well and showed some batting skills and added 76 runs for his team. Zimbabwe got the target of 17 runs that was easily attained by them in just 3.2 overs. Zimbabwe won the 1st Test by 10 wickets and led the series by 1-0. Sean Williams was the Man of the Match.
The second test started at the same venue in UAE on 10 March 2021. Afghan captain won the toss and decided to bat first. They lost some early wickets at the starting but stood back so early. Shahidi played an excellent inning of unbeaten 200 runs and set up a crucial partnership of 307 runs with his captain, Asghar Afghan that helped Afghanistan to reach 545 total and then declared. That was an excellent comeback by Afghan batsmen. Zimbabwe bowlers looked ineffective and could not do anything great. Despite getting a good start Zimbabwe could not hold on and losing wickets at regular intervals. Prince Masvaure and Kevin Kasuza added 91 runs for the 1st wicket then Tarisai Musakanda also contributed 41 runs but they could not maintain it. After the dismissal of Prince Masvaure, wickets started falling at regular intervals. Sikandar Raza tried well and added 85 runs that helped them to gain a total of 287 runs. Rashid Khan performed well with the ball and took 4 wickets.
Zimbabwe was following on and once again struggled at the starting and lost a couple of early wickets. Sean Williams’s 151 runs and Donald Tiripano’s 95 runs helped them to add 365 runs on the scoreboard in the 2nd inning but that was not enough. Once again, the magic of Rashid Khan worked, he took 7 wickets in the second inning. The target for Afghan batsman was 108 runs and they did not get enough time to achieve it. Afghanistan got the target in 26.1 overs only at the loss of 4 wickets only. Afghanistan won the 2nd Test and the series was level by 1-1. Hashmatullah Shahidi was named Man of the Match.
The Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe Test series 2021 was level 1-1 and both the captains shared the trophy. Sean Williams was named Man of the Series.
Sean Williams was the top scorer with 264 runs and Rashid Khan was the highest wicket-taker with 11 wickets in the series.
