AFG vs ZIM: Top five performers from Afghanistan’s T20I series triumph

Afghanistan have continued their dominance over Zimbabwe by whitewashing them in the just-concluded three-match series. Before the start of the series, the head-to-head record was 8-1 in favour of Afghanistan and Zimbabwe did very little to improve their record. Afghanistan won the first game by 48 runs before winning the second one by 45 runs. In the third game, they thrashed the African country by 47 runs.

With the series done and dusted, here are the five top-performers of the three-match series:

5. Blessing Muzarabani:

Blessing Muzarabani is the only Zimbabwe player to feature in this list. The 24-year old was one of the only two bowlers who picked up more than 5 wickets in the series. Muzarabani started the series by picking up two wickets in the first T20I. In the second and third games too, he picked up 2 wickets in each game.

4. Usman Ghani:

Usman Ghani finished the series as the fourth-highest run-scorer. The 24-year old did not get a chance to play any ball in the first game before being promoted to open the innings in the next two games. On both occasions, the right-handed batsman gave Afghanistan a solid start with the ball. In the second game, he scored 49 before scoring 39 in the third one.

3. Karim Janat:

Karim Janat was one of the only two batsmen who touched the 100-run mark in the series. The 22-year-old started the series with a 26-run knock before top-scoring in the next game. He scored 53 off 38 balls to help his team win the game by 45 runs. In the third game too, he got the start and scored 21 off 14 balls.

2. Rahmanullah Gurbaz:

Third T20I fifty for Rahmanullah Gurbaz ?

He has taken just 26 balls to score it.#AFGvZIM ➡️ https://t.co/EnxwWlgVcA pic.twitter.com/9XxD7m6gGE

— ICC (@ICC) March 17, 2021

Rahmanullah Gurbaz has finished the series as the highest run-scorer. The Afghanistan opener finished the three-match series with 114 runs at an average of 38 and a strike-rate of over 154. The right-handed batsman started the series on a stunning note by blasting 87 off just 45 balls. In the next two games, he could not replicate such performance as he scored 9 and 18 but still managed to top the run-scoring charts.

1. Rashid Khan:

The biggest star in action during the series, Rashid Khan. The world number one T20I bowler started the series with a fine spell of 3 for 28 off 4 overs. In the following game too, he picked up three wickets while giving away 30 runs in three overs. In the last game, he could not pick up any wicket but conceded just 18 runs off his three overs.