Zim target series win

Eddie Chikamhi

Zimpapers Sports Hub

ZIMBABWE and Afghanistan are set to revive their rivalries at Harare Sports Club today with home side captain Sikandar Raza keen to notch up their first T20I series win in almost two years.

The Chevrons, who lost a home white-ball tour against Pakistan last week, are looking to make amends after shifting base from Bulawayo to Harare for the three T20Is and as many ODIs.

Raza is drawing some of his confidence from the fact that Harare offers slightly more pace and bounce and has been a high-scoring ground for Zimbabwe.

However, the all-rounder is not taking the series for granted despite the Asians having last played the shortest format six months ago at the T20 World Cup.

“They’re the team that made it to the semi-final of the last T20 World Cup, so certainly a team that has achieved a lot of good things,” said Raza.

“But having said that, in our home conditions we’ve always had some success against Afghanistan. If you look at our record for the last year as well, we keep finding some success against the majority of teams; we just haven’t won a series yet.

“But I think we’re not too far off. I mean, when we’re winning games, then you know we can win another one. And sometimes in a series, there always has been a series where we know we missed out on an opportunity.”

Zimbabwe last won a T20I series in January 2023 when they dismissed visiting Ireland 2-1 in Harare. They went on to lose to Namibia (2-3), Ireland (1-2), Sri Lanka (1-2), Bangladesh (1-4), India (1-4), and most recently Pakistan (1-2).

Raza nonetheless is convinced the Chevrons, who are currently in a transition period under South African coach Justin Sammons, could get the basics right and start winning again.

“I can take you back to Sri Lanka, where 20-something was needed on the last two overs, and we lost that game. Had we won that game, we would have won the second game, so we could have won that series.

“Bangladesh was the first time where the team was in transition, but we had a lot of opportunities to win that series as well.

“Only one game, we were really bowled out, or they had blown us away. Apart from that, Pakistan, the first T20, we can always look at and say, you know what, that’s another opportunity missed. Against India, we won one game, but I thought we had a great chance to win another one.

“So, a series has come and gone where we know we were in there to win a series; we just haven’t found the killer blow yet.

“Afghanistan presents us with another great opportunity to try and work out our combinations and things like that and keep working on the blueprints that we discussed as a team.

“And hopefully, Inshallah, try and win a series,” Raza told journalists in a pre-match conference yesterday.

Zimbabwe announced a squad that included 18-year-old Newman Nyamhuri.

The teenager got his maiden national team call alongside opening batter Takudzwanashe Kaitano, who is in line to make his debut in the shortest format.

They replaced Clive Madande and Brandon Mavuta, who missed out due to injury and selection adjustments.

“With Newman, we want him to be part of us. He’s been announced in both squads, so whenever the opportunity comes, we want to make sure that he’s got enough time to understand the culture of the national changing room, to understand the blueprint, and how we want to go forward,” said Raza.

However, Afghanistan have dominated the meetings between the two sides in the last two decades as Zimbabwe have lost in 14 out of the 15 matches they played. )Afghanistan’s stand in coach, Hamid Hassan, is buoyed by his team’s form, which followed the T20 World Cup semi-final success. Afghanistan have won an ODI series against South Africa and most recently defeated Bangladesh.

“Yeah, the team is doing brilliantly. They have done very well over the last two years, I have to say. If you see the 2023 World Cup and then the 2024 T20 World Cup, Afghanistan were semi-finalists.

“And the way the boys are playing, they’re outstanding. We improved a lot in bowling. Especially spinning was always from the top of the table for Afghanistan.

“But now the seamers are doing very well. And we have got a very good batting side, the best all-rounders, and the best top-order batsmen.

“I think we have a complete T20 squad. And inshallah, hopefully this series, Afghanistan can win it easily,” said Hassan.

The Afghans have included in their squad several seasoned campaigners such as Rashid Khan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Nabi, Fazal Haq Farooqi, and frontline spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, among others.

Darwish Rasooli returned to the T20I side following an impressive domestic season. He also captained the Afghan team to their first title at the ACC Men’s T20 Emerging Asia Cup in Oman earlier this year. Promising young left-handed top-order batter Zubaid Akbari has earned his maiden call-up to the T20I squad in the back of stellar performances in the domestic season and was also a key contributor to Afghanistan’s success at the Emerging Asia Cup.

Hassan, however, has been doing his homework on the Zimbabwe team.

“Yeah, I see plenty of players are new in the Zimbabwe squad. We haven’t faced them before,” he said.

“So, it will be a good competition. Zimbabwe has always been a good competitor for Afghanistan since like almost 10 years, I have to say.

“And hopefully, we do our best and win this series. We are targeting the full series and then followed by the two Test matches in Bulawayo,” said Hassan.