Zimbabwe batters held their nerves to defeat Afghanistan in a T20I game that was decided on the last ball of the ultimate over on Wednesday.
Chasing a target of 145, Zimbabwe faced an early blow when opening batter Tadiwanashe Marumani was dismissed after scoring just nine runs in Harare.
His opening partner Brian Bennett then joined hands with Dion Myers to take the hosts to 86 in 13.1 overs.
The two shared a 75-run stand before Myers was dismissed after scoring 32 off 29 deliveries.
The hosts then kept losing wickets at intervals and Zimbabwe required 38 off the last five overs as Afghanistan kept bowling on tight lines.
Following Rashid Khan’s double-wicket final over in which he conceded only three, Zimbabwe were left needing 25 off the last three overs.
Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman then bowled a tight 18th over, conceding only four runs in his over, with Zimbabwe needing 21 off 12 balls.
While Naveen-ul-Haq managed to dismiss Wessly Madhevere in the 19th over, a boundary and a couple from Wellington Masakadza brought Zimbabwe closer to the finish line as the equation came down to 11 off the final over.
Tashinga Musekiwa started the ultimate over well, scoring a four followed by two couples off Azmatullah Omarzai.
After playing a dot off the fourth delivery, the Zimbabwe batter scored another couple to level the scores.
Tashinga Musekiwa then scored the winning single off the last ball to help the hosts beat Afghanistan by four wickets and lead the T20I series 1-0.
Earlier, Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first, a decision which soon backfired as they lost four wickets inside the powerplay.
Karim Janat remained the top-scorer for the visitors with a 49-ball 54, followed by Mohammad Nabi who added 44 off 27 balls to the total.
