That concludes the proceedings from the first T20I. A walk in the park for Afghanistan to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Zimbabwe got outplayed completely and would have to revisit their plans before the next match. The 2nd game of the series is on Friday, 19th March 2021, at 1400 local (1000 GMT). Do join us for all the coverage. Cheers!

Rahmanullah Gurbaz is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH! He says that he is very glad with his performance, personally, and is also happy to begin the series with a win. Further adds that he was only playing for the team and was not looking at his own score and hopes that he can get to his 100 in the next game.

Asghar Afghan, the skipper of Afghanistan, says that winning the first game of the series is very important as it helps your morale. Praises the opening pair and their partnership and adds that later on, he himself played his shots. Mentions that they managed to post a big total on the board. States that Rashid, Karim and Farid are very experienced in this format and showed their talent in this match.

Sean Williams, the Zimbabwe skipper, says that winning the toss was a big thing but their execution was not there today and Gurbaz hit the ball well and the Afghanistan opening stand did really well. On leaking 66 in the Powerplay, he says that it is hard to come back when you concede so many runs but feels that he is happy with a few certain areas, like bowling at the death, and he is looking forward to the next game. On the extras that were bowled, he stresses that the execution was poor today and in such a short format of the game, it should not happen.

Rashid Khan comes up for a quick chat. Says that it was a good win for them and it's always good to start the series with a win. Feels it was a good total on this wicket and praises the efforts of Gurbaz and Afghan. Shares that he just tries to bowl in good areas and gets the result. States that in the past, Hamza did well with the new ball and it's always good to have that kind of back-up in absence of Mujeeb. Mentions that as a bowler you always need a good total on the board and as long as the batsmen are taking the responsibility, it's good for the bowlers. Feels whenever batsmen do their job, it becomes easy for the bowlers. Smiles and says that he would love to bat more and unfurl his unorthodox shots.

It was a very clinical show by the Afghans. Despite missing some key players, their batting turned the heat with Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Asghar Afghan doing the maximum damage. And when their turn came with the ball, their pacers and spinners joined hands to not let the Zimbabwe batsmen settle down. Eventually, it was a one-sided affair with Afghanistan proving to be too hot to handle for Zimbabwe. Rashid Khan's four overs were strategically kept for the last 10 overs and the leggie didn't disappoint by picking three wickets. A word of praise of Karim Janat and Farid Malik also, they bowled with good accuracy and finished with two wickets apiece. Stay tuned for the presentation...

A thumping win for Afghanistan! Their batters did an amazing job in the afternoon to post a total close to 200 and then their bowlers joined the party and didn't allow Zimbabwe off the hook. The openers of the touring team did provide them with a good start but it was on the slower side. They would have hoped to capitalize on the start but the wickets started to tumble after that and no batsman stood there to steer the African team out of troubled waters.