ASHLEY DUBE
HARARE – The Afghanistan tour of Zimbabwe concluded with a thrilling nine-run victory for the visitors, sealing a 3-0 clean sweep in the T20I series. Afghanistan managed to enact revenge on the Chevrons after losing the one-off Test by an innings and 73 runs.
The month-long tour provided plenty of talking points. Let's dive into it.
A Tale of Two Formats
The contrast between the two sides across formats was remarkable.
Coming off heavy Test defeats to New Zealand and South Africa, Zimbabwe produced a stunning turnaround in the longer format. Led by the fearsome pace quartet of Tanaka Chivanga, Brad Evans, Richard Ngarava, and Blessing Muzarabani, the Chevrons dismantled Afghanistan’s batting lineup, bowling them out inside two sessions on Day 1. Brad Evans claimed a superb five-wicket haul, while Curran’s maiden Test hundred placed Zimbabwe firmly in control.
In the second innings, Ngarava’s sharp spell, taking a fiver as well wrapped up Afghanistan for 159, sealing an emphatic innings-and-73-runs victory – a much-needed statement win in red-ball cricket.
However, the script flipped completely in the T20I series. Aside from the third match – where Zimbabwe showed resilience chasing a mammoth 211 – Afghanistan dominated the first two encounters. Zimbabwe’s top-order collapses crippled their momentum and forced big hitters like Raza, Burl, and Musekiwa to play against their natural attacking instincts.
At the top, Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz gave Zimbabwe a lesson in T20 powerplay batting. Their 159-run partnership in the last T20I set the perfect platform for a total of 210. Gurbaz, the aggressor, fell eight runs short of a deserved century after a brilliant catch by Raza.
Zimbabwe’s fielding didn’t help — dropped catches and misfields allowed Afghanistan to pile on the runs. The Chevrons experimented by dropping their four-man pace attack after the first T20I, bringing in Wellington Masakadza to bowl in the powerplay. The plan backfired as he proved expensive early on, though he recovered in the middle overs.
The lack of spin-bowling depth remains a serious concern, especially with the T20 World Cup in the subcontinent.
Zimbabwe’s T20 setup feels unbalanced — a reflection of limited domestic T20 exposure. Beyond the short provincial T20 tournament and the NPL T20 Blast (which is club level and less competitive), players lack consistent high-level match practice. While the Chevrons have built relatively competent Test squads, their T20 structure still lags behind.
In contrast, Afghanistan’s players feature regularly in global franchise leagues, giving them superior tactical awareness and execution in the shortest format.
Brendan Taylor and Graeme Cremer: Has the Return of the Veterans Helped?
The return of Brendan Taylor was met with huge fanfare across Zimbabwe cricket — and rightfully so. He’s arguably the best ODI batter the country has ever produced and was viewed as the answer to Zimbabwe’s fragile batting lineup. However, his performances in white-ball cricket against full-member nations have been disappointing. His comeback may have been rushed, given his limited recent game time aside from a few NPL appearances for Takashinga.
This raises broader questions about Zimbabwe’s talent development. Why are players like Taylor, Williams sustainable enough as Zimbabwe prepare for the 2026 and 2027 world cups.
A similar situation surrounds Graeme Cremer, who left Zimbabwe cricket in 2018 but has since returned to the T20I setup.
Whilst there's nothing wrong with recalling experienced players, it highlights the country’s continued struggle to develop new, world-class talent ready to take over.
We could certainly improve on this aspect.
What’s Next?
Zimbabwe’s next assignment will be a T20 Tri-Series in Pakistan involving Pakistan and Sri Lanka which starts on the 17th of November — an ideal preparation opportunity for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
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