Sikandar Raza's efforts were not enough to prevent Zimbabwe from losing. © AFP
Afghanistan put on a clinical show with both bat and ball to take a 1-0 lead in the T20I series against Zimbabwe on Saturday (June 11). The visitors are now unbeaten in the tour having already clinched the ODI series 3-0.

Zimbabwe's decision to bat first didn't really work as Fazalhaq Farooqi struck in just the third over of the game to remove Innocent Kaia. Skipper Craig Ervine also departed inside the powerplay despite fetching a couple of boundaries. Regis Chakabva and Wesley Madhevere fought on but Afghanistan kept pulling Zimbabwe back with regular wickets.

Debutant Nijat Masood was the chief architect as he kept pegging the hosts back. But from 66/4, the hosts did stage a commendable recovery on the back of Sikandar Raza's 31-ball 45. Raza was the key for the home side as he fetched timely boundaries to drag Zimbabwe past a competitive total. But their hopes evaporated in quick time with the Afghanistan openers making merry in the chase.

Hazratullah Zazai was at his belligerent best as he struck eight boundaries to keep the Zimbabwean bowlers at bay. Rahmanatullah Gurbaz played the ideal foil at the other end as the openers put on 83 for the opening wicket to pretty much reduce the contest into a one-sided affair. However, the hosts fought back in the space of six deliveries as Ryan Burl picked three wickets in one over to stun the visitors.

From 83/0, Afghanistan suddenly found themselves at 86/3 in the chase. Darwish Rasooli then held fort at one end despite not making a huge impact whereas Najibullah Zadran took over the scoring duties. Zadran smashed three sixes in his unbeaten 45 and guided Afghanistan home in the final over of the chase and had skipper Mohammad Nabi for company at the other end, who came up with a cameo as well.

Brief scores: Zimbabwe 159/8 in 20 overs (Sikandar Raza 45, Wesley Madhevere 32; Nijat Masood 3/39) lost to Afghanistan 160/4 in 19.2 overs (Hazratullah Zazai 45, Najibullah Zadran 44*; Ryan Burl 3/14) by six wickets.