Afghans dump Zim, reach Super 10s

Leg-spinner Rashid Khan (L) bowled a miserly and devastating spell of three for 11 as Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by 59 runs at the VCA stadium in Nagpur yesterday to book their Super 10 berth in the ICC T20 World Cup. PHOTO: AFP

Mohammad Nabi's brisk fifty and a clinical bowling show helped Afghanistan knock Zimbabwe out of the World T20 with an emphatic 59-run win to storm into the Super 10s in Nagpur Saturday.

Batting first, Afghanistan rode on a 98-run stand between Nabi (52) and Samiullah Shenwari (43) to post 186 for six, a score which proved to be a winning total after Zimbabawe were shot out for 127 in 19.4 overs.

In-form opener Mohammad Shahzad provided a blazing start to the innings with a 23-ball 40 but his departure saw Afghanistan lose their way to 63 for four.

Medium-pacer Tinashe Panyangara grabbed three wickets to rattle the top-order after left-arm spinner Sean Williams got dangerman Shahzad back in the dugout.

Nabi, who registered his highest T20 score, and Shenwari then got together to turn things around in the knockout encounter, with some precise powerhitting.

The duo combined the right dose of caution and aggression and took a particular liking to medium-pacer Tendai Chatara and Donald Tiripano, whose economy-rates went for a toss.

"Very happy with my performance, especially in this main match and it was a tough game in the qualifying round," said Nabi.

Zimbabwe, who remain winless against the Asghar Stanikzai-led side in five attempts, were never in the chase after losing their openers early.

Burdened by the increasing run-rate the Zimbabwe batting failed to get going with Sikandar Raza top-scoring with 15.

Leg-spinner Rashid Khan turned on the heat with a three-wicket haul as medium-pacer Hamid Hassan contributed with two scalps.

Ranked ninth in world T20 rankings, Afghanistan will now meet defending champions Sri Lanka, South Africa, England and West Indies in Group 1 of the Super 10s.

In the second match of the day, Scotland won the battle of pride against Hong Kong by eight wickets via Duckworth/Lewis (D/L) method in an inconsequential Group A tie.

Chasing a revised target of 76 in 10 overs in the rain-hit match, Scotland cantered home with 12 balls to spare and registered their first win in an ICC tournament.

Earlier, the Preston Mommsen-led side bowled well to restrict Hong Kong  to 127 for 7 in 20 overs. 

SCORES IN BRIEF

AFGHANISTAN VS ZIMBABWE
AFGHANISTAN: 186 for 6 in 20 overs (Mohammad Shahzad 40, Shenwari 43, Nabi 52; Panyangara 3-32)
ZIMBABWE: 127 all out in 19.4 overs (Raza 15, Panyangara 17 not out; Rashid 3-11, Hassan 2-11)
Result: Afghanistan won by 59 runs.
Player-of-the-match: Mohammed Nabi.

HONG KONG VS SCOTLAND
HONG KONG: 127 for 7 in 20 overs (Chapman 40, Rath 21, Niazkat 17; Machan 2-26)
SCOTLAND: 78 for 2 in 8 overs (Munsey 19, Coetzer 20 not out, Cross 22, Machan 15 not out; Cambell 14-0)
Result: Scotland won by 8 wickets (D/L method)
Player-of-the-match: Matt Machan