Sheikh Zayed Stadium - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
AFG vs ZIM
AFG
ZIM
AFG vs ZIM Betting Tips
There was very little to choose between the sides in the Test series but we expect a far more one-sided affair in the T20I games with Afghanistan coming out on top. Zimbabwe are currently ranked in 12th place with Afghanistan level alongside West Indies in 8th and only marginally behind Bangladesh in 7th.
In Rashid Khan, Afghanistan have the world’s number 1 ranked bowler in the T20I format so it will be interesting to see how Zimbabwe approach his bowling and that of his Afghan teammates. Not that they are a one man team, they also have the world’s number 1 ranked all-rounder in Mohammad Nabi!
For Zimbabwe, once again the burden of responsibility will fall upon captain Sean Williams who hit a century in both Tests.
AFG vs ZIM Win Probability
The "Chance of Winning" Widget shows winning percentage depending upon live betting odds of teams participating in the match. The winning percentage is changed immediately when odds are updated.
In Rashid Khan, Afghanistan have the world’s number 1 ranked bowler in the T20I format so it will be interesting to see how Zimbabwe approach his bowling and that of his Afghan teammates. Not that they are a one man team, they also have the world’s number 1 ranked all-rounder in Mohammad Nabi!
For Zimbabwe, once again the burden of responsibility will fall upon captain Sean Williams who hit a century in both Tests.
Afghanistan come into this game unbeaten in a T20I series since losing 3-0 to West Indies in June 2017. Since then they have beaten Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Ireland and West Indies in this format. However, they haven’t contested a T20I series in 12 months.
Zimbabwe’s last T20I series win came in a tri-series involving Nepal and Singapore in September 2019. They have played two further T20I series since then, losing to Bangladesh and Pakistan without winning a game.
Both sides have selected squads with a mix of youth and experience. However, we expect Afghanistan to be too strong for Zimbabwe across the series.
AFG vs ZIM Live Streaming
The match can be watched live on Free Sports UK in the UK Freeview Channel 64, Virgin Media Channel 553, Sky Channel 422, TalkTalk TV Channel 64 and BT TV Channel 64
Live Streaming: Fans in India can stream the match on the FanCode app.
AFG vs ZIM Toss Prediction
Asghar Afghan won both tosses in the Test series and chose to bat first each time. We expect Afghan or Williams to choose to field first if the coin flips in their favour.
Pitch Report
This will be the first T20I at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi since the UAE beat Canada by 14 runs in October 2019. Ireland are the only team to have hit 200+ at the ground and we expect that record to remain.
Weather Report
The temperature will be down from the earlier high of 31 but will still be near 28 when the game gets underway
Read on for team previews, betting tips, latest odds and match prediction for Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe 1st T20
Afghanistan Team News & Playing 11
AFG Team News
There will be some familiar names in the Afghanistan team including many from the recent Test series. Look out for wicketkeeper batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz who has already played 10 T20Is and hit a century on his ODI debut earlier this year.
AFG Key Players
Asghar Afghan - the captain made a century in the first innings of the final Test which set Afghanistan on their way to victory. He doesn’t have the best individual numbers in T20I cricket but will have good memories of the surroundings from last week.
Mohammad Nabi - leading the rankings in the format for all-rounders, Nabi has clocked up 78 T20Is taking 69 wickets with a highest score of 89. He is over 36 years of age, but as Chris Gayle has recently proved, that is just a number in T20I cricket.
Rashid Khan - the world’s number 1 T20I bowler will be relishing bowling 4 overs in the first game after sending down 99.2 overs across the second Test, a record for this century. His best figures of 5-3 came against Ireland in March 2017.
AFG Team Form
Unbeaten in series since 2017 but that may not count for a great deal considering they haven’t played a T20I since March 2020.
Afghanistan Predicted Playing 11
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Usman Ghani, Karim Janat, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najib Zadran, Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rashid Khan, Hamza Hotak, Naveen Ul-Haq
AFG vs ZIM Dream11 Team Prediction, Captain, Vice Captain
Wicket-keeper
We’ve selected Regis Chakabva (8.5) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (8.5) with the gloves. There’s plenty of excitement around Gurbaz and we couldn’t resist.
Batsmen
We are backing Wesley Madhevere (9) to return to form with a change to the white ball, Kevin Kasuza (8.5) and Asghar Afghan (9) make up our batsmen.
All-rounders
Sikandar Raza (10) and Sean Williams (9.5) would have been selected as batmen if they were in that category. Alongside them we’ve gone with the top all-rounder according to the rankings, Mohammad Nabi (9.5).
Bowlers
We’ve gone for a combination of Rashid Khan (10), Hamza Hotak (8.5) and Donald Tiripano (8.5) as our bowlers. If he has recovered from his marathon bowling stint with the red ball then Rashid Khan will be box office to watch
Captain/Vice-captain
Rashid Khan will be our skipper while Mohammad Nabi can be his deputy.
AFG vs ZIM Dream11 Team Prediction
Batsmen:Wesley Madhevere, Kevin Kasuza, Asghar Afghan
All Rounder:Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams, Mohammad Nabi
Wicket Keeper:Regis Chakabva, Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Bowler:Rashid Khan, Hamza Hotak, Donald Tiripano
Zimbabwe Team News & Playing 11
ZIM Team News
In spite of losing the second Test and an inferior record in T20Is, Zimbabwe do have useful players who will be keen to show off their skills with and against the white ball. None more so than Wesley Madhevere who made his Test debut in the series with Afghanistan and returned numbers of zero runs, two golden ducks and a further duck across his three innings.
ZIM Key Players
Sean Williams - Captain, Player of the Series and the only player to look at ease in both Tests, Williams comes into this series with his reputation enhanced in the long format and with a great platform to gain further attention.
Sikandar Raza - The only other Zimbabwe player to bat with any consistency across the Test series. Raza has bags of experience and offers good skills with the bat and the ball with his off-breaks.
Donald Tiripano - Always considered as a bowler who could bat a little bit, Tiripano almost made three figures in international cricket for the first time before being dismissed for 95 on Sunday. He will be a reliable performer with bat and ball if given the opportunity.
ZIM Team Form
The biggest obstacle for Zimbabwe has been lack of games over recent years, but not returning a win and being heavily beaten in recent T20I series against Bangladesh and Pakistan gave a realistic assessment of their current level.
Zimbabwe Predicted Playing 11
Prince Masvaure, Kevin Kasuza, Sean Williams (c) , Regis Chakabva (wk), Sikandar Raza, Wesley Madhevere, Ryan Burl, Victor Nyauchi, Blessing Muzarabani
Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe Head to Head
Afghanistan have beaten Zimbabwe in every T20I bar one, but the defeat came in their last meeting in 2019
AFG vs ZIM Head to Head Stats in T20s
Matches Played
AFG Won
ZIM Won
Tie
Draw
9
8
1
0
0
Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe Betting Odds
The home side are clear favourites in the first T20I
Who will win Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe 1st T20?
According to the bookmakers, the gap between the two sides has widened with India now firmly on top.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Asghar Afghan and Mohammad Nabi are the three batsmen we’ll back from Afghanistan. After his ODI entrance earlier this year and a decent T20I career so far, big things are expected from Gurbaz.
For Zimbabwe, we are backing the run machines of Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza with Kevin Kasuza’s spot at the top of the order giving him the nod.
There are strong bowlers across both sides but Rashid Khan is streets ahead with his ability with the ball. We’ve backed him up with Hamza Hotak and Mohammad Nabi.
For Zimbabwe, Blessing Muzarabani caused problems in the first Test and Raza and Tiripano can always be relied upon for consistent overs.
Both Test matches produced some very entertaining cricket and the T20I series promises to deliver more of the same. And in spite of the quality of Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams for Zimbabwe, we are backing Afghanistan to come out on top in the opener.
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Mar 17, 2021
15:30 IST / 10:00 GMT
Sheikh Zayed Stadium - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
AFG vs ZIM 
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We do our best to give you most accurate & useful match predictions and would love to hear from you. Let us know if we need to improve. Share your own predictions for the matches. Let's talk: