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Zimbabwe against Afghanistan in the UAE in 2020–21
	Afghanistan	Zimbabwe
Dates	2 – 20 March 2021
Captains	Asghar Afghan	Sean Williams
Test series
Result	2-match series drawn 1–1
Most runs	Hashmatullah Shahidi (215)	Sean Williams (264)
Most wickets	Rashid Khan (11)	Blessing Muzarabani (8)
Player of the series	Sean Williams (Zim)
Twenty20 International series
Results	Afghanistan won the 3-match series 3–0
Most runs	Rahmanullah Gurbaz (114)	Ryan Burl (81)
Most wickets	Rashid Khan (6)	Blessing Muzarabani (6)
Player of the series	Karim Janat (Afg)

The Zimbabwe cricket team toured the United Arab Emirates in March 2021 to play two Test and three Twenty20 International (T20I) matches against Afghanistan. It was the first time the two teams had played a Test match against each other. Ahmed Shah Pakteen was named as the on-field umpire for both Tests, becoming the first Afghan umpire to officiate in Test cricket.

Originally, the series was scheduled to be played in Oman. In January 2021, the International Cricket Council (ICC) gave accreditation for the Ministry Turf 1 at the Al Amerat Cricket Stadium in Muscat to host Test cricket. However, in February 2021, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) confirmed that the series would take place in the UAE. The series was initially in doubt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however in late January 2021, Zimbabwe's Sports and Recreation Commission gave its approval for the tour to go ahead. On 12 February 2021, the ACB announced the tour schedule.

Zimbabwe won the first Test inside two days by ten wickets, with captain Sean Williams scoring a century in their first innings. Zimbabwe last won a Test match in November 2018, when they beat Bangladesh. Afghanistan won the second Test match by six wickets to draw the series 1–1, with Hashmatullah Shahidi becoming the first batsman for Afghanistan to score a double century in Test cricket.

Afghanistan won the first two T20I matches, by 48 and 45 runs, respectively, to win the series with a game to spare. Afghanistan won the third and final match by 47 runs, with Asghar Afghan becoming the most successful captain in men's T20I cricket.

Squads

Tests		T20Is
Afghanistan	Zimbabwe	Afghanistan	Zimbabwe
Asghar Afghan (c) Munir Ahmad Javed Ahmadi Yamin Ahmadzai Fazalhaq Farooqi Amir Hamza Nasir Jamal Rashid Khan Abdul Malik Wafadar Momand Mohammad Saleem Bahir Shah Rahmat Shah Hashmatullah Shahidi Shahidullah Sayed Shirzad Zia-ur-Rehman Ibrahim Zadran Afsar Zazai (wk)	Sean Williams (c) Ryan Burl Regis Chakabva (wk) Kevin Kasuza Wesley Madhevere Wellington Masakadza Prince Masvaure Brandon Mavuta Tarisai Musakanda Richmond Mutumbami Blessing Muzarabani Richard Ngarava Victor Nyauchi Sikandar Raza Donald Tiripano	Asghar Afghan (c) Fareed Ahmad Sharafuddin Ashraf Fazalhaq Farooqi Usman Ghani Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk) Amir Hamza Karim Janat Rashid Khan Mohammad Nabi Hashmatullah Shahidi Naveen-ul-Haq Ibrahim Zadran Najibullah Zadran Afsar Zazai (wk)	Sean Williams (c) Faraz Akram Ryan Burl Regis Chakabva (wk) Kevin Kasuza Tinashe Kamunhukamwe Wesley Madhevere Wellington Masakadza Prince Masvaure Brandon Mavuta Tarisai Musakanda Richmond Mutumbami Blessing Muzarabani Richard Ngarava Victor Nyauchi Sikandar Raza Milton Shumba Donald Tiripano

Afghanistan also named Zahir Khan and Abdul Wasi as reserve players for the Test matches. Chamu Chibhabha, Zimbabwe's limited overs captain, did not travel for the T20I matches due to an injury. The Afghanistan Cricket Board also confirmed that Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Hamid Hassan, Gulbadin Naib, Waqar Salamkheil, Azmatullah Omarzai could join the T20I squad once their visa issues had been resolved.

Tour match

Zimbabwe	v	Afghanistan A
505/6d (135 overs) Kevin Kasuza 129 (197) Mohammad Saleem 2/75 (21 overs)		271/8 (113.2 overs) Munir Ahmad 125* (320) Donald Tiripano 2/18 (10 overs)

• Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat.

Test series

1st Test

Afghanistan	v	Zimbabwe
131 (47 overs) Afsar Zazai 37 (70) Blessing Muzarabani 4/48 (12 overs)		250 (72 overs) Sean Williams 105 (174) Amir Hamza 6/75 (25 overs)
135 (45.3 overs) Ibrahim Zadran 76 (145) Donald Tiripano 3/23 (9.3 overs)		17/0 (3.2 overs) Kevin Kasuza 11* (12)

• Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat.
• Munir Ahmad, Abdul Malik, Abdul Wasi (Afg) and Wesley Madhevere (Zim) all made their Test debuts.
• Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg) stood in his first Test as an umpire.
• Blessing Muzarabani became the first bowler for Zimbabwe to take a wicket with the first ball of a Test.
• Abdul Malik became the first batsman for Afghanistan to be dismissed for a pair in Tests.

2nd Test

Afghanistan	v	Zimbabwe
545/4d (160.4 overs) Hashmatullah Shahidi 200* (443) Ryan Burl 1/69 (20 overs)		287 (91.3 overs) Sikandar Raza 85 (129) Rashid Khan 4/138 (36.3 overs)
108/4 (26.1 overs) Rahmat Shah 58 (76) Ryan Burl 2/16 (4 overs)		365 (148.5 overs) (f/o) Sean Williams 151* (309) Rashid Khan 7/137 (62.5 overs)

• Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat.
• Shahidullah and Sayed Shirzad (Afg) both made their Test debuts.
• Asghar Afghan (Afg) scored his first century in Tests.
• Hashmatullah Shahidi scored his first Test century, and became the first batsman for Afghanistan to score a double century in Tests.

T20I series

1st T20I

Afghanistan  198/5 (20 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 150/7 (20 overs)
Rahmanullah Gurbaz 87 (45) Blessing Muzarabani 2/38 (4 overs)		Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 44 (37) Rashid Khan 3/28 (4 overs)

• Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to field.
• Asghar Afghan played in his 50th T20I as a captain of Afghanistan.

2nd T20I

Afghanistan  193/5 (20 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 148 (17.1 overs)
Karim Janat 53 (38) Blessing Muzarabani 2/44 (4 overs)		Ryan Burl 40 (29) Rashid Khan 3/30 (3 overs)

• Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat.
• Rashid Khan (Afg) played in his 50th T20I.

3rd T20I

Afghanistan  183/7 (20 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 136/5 (20 overs)
Najibullah Zadran 72* (35) Richard Ngarava 2/35 (4 overs)		Sikandar Raza 41* (29) Karim Janat 2/34 (4 overs)

• Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat.
• Fazalhaq Farooqi (Afg) made his T20I debut.
• Aleem Dar (Pak) became the first on-field umpire to stand in 400 matches in international cricket.

Notes

1. While five days of play were scheduled for each Test, the first Test reached a result in two days.

References

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6. "OCA Ground 1 gets ICC accreditation to host Test matches, ODIs and T20Is". Oman Cricket. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
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12. "Afghanistan implode as two-day Test goes to Zimbabwe". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
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15. "Afghanistan bounce back with series-levelling win against Zimbabwe". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
16. "Mohammad Nabi, Usman Ghani, Karim Janat seal series for Afghanistan with big win". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
17. "Najibullah Zadran, bowlers drive Afghanistan to series sweep". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
18. "Rashid Khan in squad for Zimbabwe Tests, to miss large part of PSL season". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
19. "No Brendan Taylor, Craig Ervine in Zimbabwe squad for Afghanistan Tests". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
20. "Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Gulbadin Naib wait on 'visa issue' ahead of T20I series". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
21. "Madhevere earns Test call-up as Zimbabwe name young squad for Afghanistan series". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
22. "Afghanistan pick eight uncapped players for Zimbabwe Tests". CricBuzz. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
23. "Chevrons Depart For Afghanistan Series". New Zimbabwe. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
24. "Afghanistan T20I squad announced albeit visa issues for Some Players". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
25. "Ahmed Shah Pakteen becomes first on-field Test umpire from Afghanistan". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
26. "Sean Williams' unbeaten 54 carries Zimbabwe into lead after Amir Hamza's four strikes". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
27. "Williams century, bowlers help Zimbabwe trounce Afghanistan in two-day finish at Abu Dhabi". The Hindu. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
28. "Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan in record stand as Afghanistan grind Zimbabwe". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
29. "Hashmatullah Shahidi gets to landmark 200 as Afghanistan batsmen dominate". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
30. "AFG vs ZIM: Hashmatullah Shahidi becomes first Afghanistan batsman to score a double century in Test cricket". The Cricket Times. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
31. "AFG vs ZIM Stats Preview 1st T20I Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe". India Fantasy. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
32. "Series on the line for Sean Williams' Zimbabwe against confident Afghanistan". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
33. "Aleem Dar became the first umpire to complete 400 matches in international". Reportr Door. Retrieved 20 March 2021.

External links

• Series home at ESPN Cricinfo

• 2021 in Afghan cricket
• 2021 in Zimbabwean cricket
• International cricket competitions in 2020–21
• Afghan cricket tours of the United Arab Emirates
• Zimbabwean cricket tours of the United Arab Emirates
• Afghanistan–Zimbabwe sports relations