Last Updated on 3 weeks by Charbel Coorey

ZIM vs AFG 1st T20 Dream11 Prediction & Fan2Play Possible 11 Pitch Report | ZIM vs AFG 1st T20 Dream11 Prediction Today | Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan 1st T20I Key Players | Harare Pitch Report

The ever-widening gap between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan was highlighted brightly in the ODI series, where the tourists barely raised a sweat to seal a clean sweep, apart from the run chase in the third ODI. If that wasn’t bad enough for the home side, the tour now moves to Afghanistan’s best format, where they have beaten Zimbabwe in 11 of 12 meetings.

Zimbabwe fans are desperately looking for something to smile about. Before the Afghanistan tour, they lost a five-match T20I series 3-2 at home to Namibia in another confidence-sapping campaign. With a T20 World Cup Qualifier campaign at home next month, Zimbabwe have a great chance here to pick up some momentum in their quest to participate in Australia later this year.

How they deal with Afghanistan’s impressive attack and hard-hitting batsmen serves as a great challenge ahead of next month’s crucial tournament. For Afghanistan, their agenda is to get back into the swing of things ahead of the World Cup. Their last T20I was in Bangladesh in March, where they chased down the home side’s 115/9 with ease. If they get going, watch out.

ZIM vs AFG 1st T20 Possible Playing 11

Zimbabwe: 1. Wessley Madhevere, 2. Innocent Kaia, 3. Craig Ervine (c), 4. Regis Chakabva (wk), 5. Sikandar Raza, 6. Don Myers/Milton Shumba, 7. Ryan Burl, 8. Luke Jongwe, 9. Tendai Chatara, 10. Blessing Muzarabani, 11. Ainsley Ndlovu

Mujeeb ur Rahman is not in the Afghanistan T20I squad for this series.

Afghanistan: 1. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2. Hazratullah Zazai, 3. Usman Ghani, 4. Darwish Rasooli, 5. Najibullah Zadran, 6. Mohammad Nabi (c), 7. Karim Janat, 8. Rashid Khan, 9. Azmatullah Omarzi, 10. Fazalhaq Farooqi, 11. Sharafuddin Ashraf/Fareed Ahmed

Key Players to Watch/Key Stats

Zimbabwe:

• Wessley Madhevere had a disappointing ODI series, but he is one to watch in T20Is. He has struck five half-centuries in 11 T20Is at home, with a total of 402 runs at an average of 40.20 and strike rate of 131.80.
• Craig Ervine will be crucial. The Zimbabwe captain is set to play his fourth T20I against Afghanistan. He scored just 14 runs in his previous three games against them.
• Also, Ervine will be aiming to improve his T20 record at Harare: 27 inns, 474 runs, avg. 24.95, SR 116.18.
• Sikandar Raza was a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing ODI series for Zimbabwe. He struck scores of 67, 40 and 38. In T20Is, he is Zimbabwe’s top scorer against Afghanistan (10 inns, 234 runs, avg. 26.00, SR 130.72).
• Blessing Muzarabani will be tasked with making inroads into the Afghanistan batting lineup. The seamer has the most wickets for Zimbabwe against Afghanistan in T20Is (10 in five matches), although he will want to improve on his economy of 10.35.
• Luke Jongwe has taken 18 wickets in 11 T20s at Harare, striking every 10.72 deliveries on average.

Afghanistan:

• Rahmanullah Gurbaz had a quiet ODI series but will be one to watch in the T20Is. He has struck an impressive 218 runs in five matches vs Zimbabwe at an average of 43.60 and strike rate of 150.34. This includes two half-centuries.
• Hazratullah Zazai can take the game away from Zimbabwe in an instant. He has struck 235 runs in nine T20s this year at an average of 29.38 and strike rate of 125.00.
• Mohammad Nabi has the most runs in ZIM-AFG T20Is. The captain has struck 324 runs in 12 matches at an average of 32.40 and strike rate of 166.15. He also has taken nine wickets with one scalp every 23 balls on average.
• Karim Janat is one to watch with his all-round skills. In four matches against Zimbabwe, he has one half-century and six wickets. He takes a wicket every 14.1 deliveries on average against them.
• Rashid Khan is always a key player. The leg-spinner has the most wickets in ZIM-AFG T20Is, with 19 scalps in 12 matches at an average of 16.26 and economy rate of 6.71.
• Left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi was mighty impressive in the ODIs. He will be key upfront with his ability to swing the new ball.

Other Stats and Facts

• Head-to-head: Matches 12, Zimbabwe 1, Afghanistan 11.
• Rashid Khan vs Sikandar Raza in T20Is: 46 balls, 41 runs conceded, two wickets.
• Zimbabwe’s last series win was against Scotland in 2021. Milton Shumba struck 66 off 29 balls to lead Zimbabwe to a win in a decider in that series.

Harare Sports Club Pitch Report and Weather

The afternoon start means the track should be a good one for batting right away, as opposed to the morning where the ball often moves around more. However, there may be a touch of slowness about the square as all three ODIs were played on this ground. If that’s the case, Zimbabwe may struggled to deal with Afghanistan’s spinners.

The last T20Is played on this ground was between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in 2021. The chasing team won two of the three games, with an average first innings score of 170.33.

More clear and cool weather is forecast in Harare.

ZIM vs AFG 1st T20 Dream11 Prediction 11 June 2022

Note: The below teams are not based on the final playing XIs. We may not be able to update these in time. Use the stats and commentary in this article as well as your own instincts to create your teams.

Option 1:

Option 2:

Fan2Play Prediction

Base team:

• Wicket-keepers: Rahmanullah Gurbaz
• Batsmen: Hazratullah Zazai, Craig Ervine
• All-rounders: Mohammad Nabi, Sikandar Raza, Karim Janat
• Bowlers: Rashid Khan, Blessing Muzarabani

ZIM vs AFG 1st T20 Match Prediction

Afghanistan should win this match.