Afghan cricket team against Zimbabwe in the UAE in 2015–16

The Afghanistan cricket team toured the United Arab Emirates to play Zimbabwe from 25 December 2015 to 10 January 2016. The tour consisted of five One Day Internationals (ODIs) and two Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) matches.^[1] All the matches took place at the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium.^[2]

Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe in the UAE in 2015-16
	Afghanistan	Zimbabwe
Dates	25 December 2015 – 10 January 2016
Captains	Asghar Stanikzai	Elton Chigumbura
One Day International series
Results	Afghanistan won the 5-match series 3–2
Most runs	Mohammad Shahzad (237)	Hamilton Masakadza (266)
Most wickets	Amir Hamza (11)	Luke Jongwe (10)
Player of the series	Mohammad Shahzad (Afg)
Twenty20 International series
Results	Afghanistan won the 2-match series 2–0
Most runs	Mohammad Shahzad (151)	Hamilton Masakadza (96)
Most wickets	Dawlat Zadran (5)	Graeme Cremer (4)
Player of the series	Mohammad Shahzad (Afg)

Afghanistan won the ODI series 3–2 and made the top ten of the ODI rankings for the first time.^[3] Afghanistan won the T20I series 2–0. Following the conclusion of the series, Afghan batsman Mohammad Shahzad entered the ICC's T20I batting rankings in eighth place. His teammate Dawlat Zadran entered the ICC's list for best bowlers in T20I cricket, also in eighth place.^[4]

Squads

Afghanistan[5]	Zimbabwe
Asghar Stanikzai (c) Yamin Ahmadzai Mirwais Ashraf Rokhan Barakzai Usman Ghani Amir Hamza Nawaz Khan Rashid Khan Nawroz Mangal Mohammad Nabi Gulbadin Naib Karim Sadiq Shafiqullah Rahmat Shah Hashmatullah Shahidi Mohammad Shahzad Samiullah Shinwari Sayed Shirzad Dawlat Zadran Najibullah Zadran Noor Ali Zadran	Elton Chigumbura (c) Chamu Chibhabha Tendai Chisoro Graeme Cremer Craig Ervine Luke Jongwe Neville Madziva Hamilton Masakadza Wellington Masakadza Peter Moor Richmond Mutumbami Taurai Muzarabani Tinashe Panyangara Sikandar Raza Malcolm Waller

ODI series

1st ODI

25 December 2015 15:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Afghanistan  131 (38.5 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 82 (30.5 overs)
Noor Ali Zadran 63 (82) Graeme Cremer 5/20 (9.5 overs)		Elton Chigumbura 28 (41) Amir Hamza 4/17 (7.5 overs)

Afghanistan won by 49 runs Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Vineet Kulkarni (Ind) and Chettithody Shamshuddin (Ind) Player of the match: Amir Hamza (Afg)

• Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat.
• Yamin Ahmadzai (Afg) made his ODI debut.
• Afghanistan's total of 131 was the lowest total successfully defended by an Associate side against a Test side in an ODI match.^[6]
• With this victory Afghanistan entered the top 10 of the ICC's ODI rankings for the first time.^[7]

2nd ODI

29 December 2015 15:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Zimbabwe  253/7 (50 overs)	v	Afghanistan 254/6 (47.4 overs)
Craig Ervine 73 (98) Dawlat Zadran 3/57 (10 overs)		Mohammad Shahzad 131* (133) Elton Chigumbura 3/32 (7 overs)

Afghanistan won by 4 wickets Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Chettithody Shamshuddin (Ind) Player of the match: Mohammad Shahzad (Afg)

• Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat.
• Rokhan Barakzai (Afg) made his ODI debut.
• Mohammad Shahzad's 131 not out was the highest individual total for an Afghan batsman in an ODI match.^[8]

3rd ODI

2 January 2016 15:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Zimbabwe  175 (48.3 overs)	v	Afghanistan 58 (16.1 overs)
Hamilton Masakadza 83 (138) Mirwais Ashraf 3/20 (8 overs)		Mohammad Shahzad 31 (22) Luke Jongwe 5/6 (5.1 overs)

Zimbabwe won by 117 runs Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Vineet Kulkarni (Ind) Player of the match: Hamilton Masakadza (Zim)

• Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat.

4th ODI

4 January 2016 15:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Zimbabwe  226 (49.1 overs)	v	Afghanistan 161 (45 overs)
Chamu Chibhabha 53 (92) Rashid Khan 3/43 (10 overs)		Mohammad Shahzad 45 (72) Chamu Chibhabha 4/25 (10 overs)

Zimbabwe won by 65 runs Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Vineet Kulkarni (Ind) and Chettithody Shamshuddin (Ind) Player of the match: Chamu Chibhabha (Zim)

• Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat.

5th ODI

6 January 2016 15:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Zimbabwe  248 (49.5 overs)	v	Afghanistan 254/8 (49.4 overs)
Hamilton Masakadza 110 (111) Amir Hamza 3/41 (9.5 overs)		Gulbadin Naib 82* (68) Luke Jongwe 3/50 (8 overs)

Afghanistan won by 2 wickets Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Chettithody Shamshuddin (Ind) Player of the match: Gulbadin Naib (Afg)

• Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat.

T20I series

1st T20I

8 January 2016 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Afghanistan  187/7 (20 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 182/7 (20 overs)
Usman Ghani 42 (38) Graeme Cremer 3/17 (4 overs)		Malcolm Waller 49* (37) Dawlat Zadran 3/32 (4 overs)

Afghanistan won by 5 runs Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Vineet Kulkarni (Ind) Player of the match: Gulbadin Naib (Afg)

• Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat.
• Peter Moor and Donald Tiripano (Zimbabwe) both made their T20I debuts.

2nd T20I

10 January 2016 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Afghanistan  215/6 (20 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 134 (18.1 overs)
Mohammad Shahzad 118* (67) Tendai Chisoro 1/29 (4 overs)		Hamilton Masakadza 63 (44) Amir Hamza 2/14 (3 overs)

Afghanistan won by 81 runs Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Vineet Kulkarni (Ind) and Chettithody Shamshuddin (Ind) Player of the match: Mohammad Shahzad (Afg)

• Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to field.
• Mohammad Shahzad (Afg) scored the highest individual innings for an Associate team and the fourth highest innings ever in T20Is.^[9][10]

References

1. "Afghanistan v Zimbabwe Series". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
2. "Groin injury rules Williams out of Afghanistan series". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
3. "Naib heroics lift Afghanistan to thrilling series win". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
4. "Shahzad, Dawlat break into ICC top 10 rankings". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
5. "Uncapped Nawaz in Afghanistan squad". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
6. "Hamza, Nabi help Afghanistan defend 131". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
7. "Afghanistan break into top 10 of ODI rankings". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
8. "Shahzad's record ton helps Afghanistan to 2-0 lead". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
9. "Belligerent Shahzad ton propels Afghanistan to series win". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
10. "Mohammad Shahzad hits 118 as Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 January 2016.

External links

• Series home at ESPNcricinfo