πππππ :Β Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan
ππππ : December 11 ,βWednesdayββ
ππππ :β 17:00 PM ISTββββββ
πππππ : Harare Sports Club, Harare, Zimbabwe
ππππππππππ :ββ 1st T20I 2024
Zimbabwe face a dominant Afghanistan
- Afghanistan lead with 14-1 head-to-head wins
- Zimbabwe lost their last home series against Afghanistan
- Afghanistan havenβt played a T20I since the World Cup
Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan
TV channels: The fans can watch the match live on Hotstar
Live Streaming: Live streaming of the match will be available on the FAFA191 Cricket Exchange India and website.
ZIM vs AFG Match Prediction & Analysis
Afghanistan will be touring Zimbabwe for 3 T20Is, 3 ODIs, and one Test match. In their last T20I series here, Afghanistan had won 3-0. They have a great record against Zimbabwe in T20Is with 14 wins and 1 loss.
The hosts were recently handed a 1-2 loss by Pakistan in the T20I series. Zimbabwe were bowled out for 108 and 57 runs in the first two games and in the final match of the series, they chased down 133 runs with 2 wickets in hand.
TEAMS PREVIEW
Zimbabwe Preview
At the time of writing, there is no official word out on the T20I squad from Zimbabwe for this series. However, we reckon they are most likely to continue with the same side that played Pakistan in the recent home series.
Wessly Madhevere was back in the squad for the Pakistan games. He played just one game and wasnβt very impressive. We expect him to find more chances against Afghanistan.
Opening batsman Brian Bennett found his rhythm in the final match where Zimbabwe successfully chased down the target. There havenβt been any promising performances from the batters but Bennett and Tadiwanashe Marumani will be the key players to watch out for in the top order.
Afghanistan Preview
Afghanistan will be playing their first T20I since the semi-final in West Indies where they lost to South Africa. They have been great in the white-ball format beating South Africa in ODIs.
Since their last appearance in the T20 World Cup, Afghanistan have played two one-day international series and won both of them. They will be confident coming into this series having dominated Zimbabwe in the T20 format over the years.
Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmed, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman will be leading the spin-bowling attack for Afghanistan in the series. In the pace department, theyβve got Naveen ul Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, and bowling all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai.
There is plenty of firepower in this bowling attack and we expect most of them to deliver crucial breakthroughs at regular intervals. They also have experienced all-rounders like Mohammad Nabi and Gulbadin Naib in the squad for the T20Is.
Weather Conditions
It will be clear and sunny in Harare on the match day with a high of 32 degrees Celsius. The match is scheduled for the afternoon and we expect the weather to help batters early on.
ZIM vs AFG Pitch Report
It is a balanced wicket at the Harare Sports Club with the bowlers also finding significant help from the surface. The average 1st innings score in the last 10 T20 matches here is 160 runs. The highest score successfully chased at this venue in recent games is 163 runs. We reckon anything around 165-170 will be a highly competitive 1st innings total in this match.
Toss: To Bat
Teams batting first have won 33 of the 55 T20Is played at this venue. It is not a high-scoring venue and having runs on the board will give the batting team an edge over the opposition. The visitors should be confident of defending a total given their bowling strength.
