Zimbabwe pulled off an incredible win against Afghanistan at the Harare Sports Club Ground, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series with a nail-biting last-ball finish. The match was a real edge-of-your-seat experience, where every single run counted. A crucial 13-ball over bowled by Naveen-ul-Haq during the chase really changed the game in Harare.

That extra seven balls in the over meant Naveen's 15th over ended up costing 19 runs. This dramatically shifted the target from needing 57 runs off 36 balls to just 38 runs off 30, making things a lot easier for the home team..

Naveen had a bit of a funny over, starting off with a wide before finally delivering his first legal ball. He then followed it up with a waist-high no-ball that Sikandar Raza smacked for four runs. With a free-hit coming up, Naveen tried to keep Raza from scoring by bowling four straight wide balls outside the off-stump. But when the free-hit came, Raza hit that for another boundary. In just one over, Naveen had given away 13 runs after running in to bowl six times.

On a brighter note, he managed to get Raza out on the third ball of the over. Luckily for Afghanistan, the rest of the over only saw three singles and another wide, so it didn’t turn out too badly.

Spinners add excitement in the final overs.

Afghanistan started to regain some momentum, scoring 10 runs in the next over, and then Rashid Khan stepped up, giving away just three runs while taking two wickets, including the well-set Brian Bennett at 49. Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman followed with an over that only cost 4 runs, putting his team in a strong position.

Naveen came back for the 19th over with Zimbabwe needing 21 runs in the last two overs. However, the Zimbabwe batters found success against the pace, managing to score 10 runs off Naveen, even though he didn’t give away any extras this time, despite getting Wessly Madhevere out.

In the final over, Azmatullah Omarzai had to defend 11 runs, but Tashinga Musekiwa emerged as the hero, guiding his team to victory in a nail-biting finish.

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