Nabi makes history in T20I against Zim, his 300th international match

Zimbabwe on Wednesday trumped Afghanistan by 4 wickets in the first of three T20Is – in a match that was however historical for Mohammad Nabi. It was his 300th appearance in international cricket.

The 39-year-old Afghanistan National Cricket Team all-rounder achieved this special triple century feat to become the only Afghan cricketer to do so.

Nabi’s milestone comes after he made his debut on April 19, 2009 and on Wednesday he made sure his 300th international match was a memorable one as he played a sensational knock with the bat.

He scored 44 runs off 27 balls, with 5 fours and 1 six, to help his team register a decent total of 144/6 on the board.

During his innings on Wednesday, Nabi also unlocked a major milestone as he completed 150 fours in his history of T20I cricket.

Nabi made his Test debut in June 2018 against India and has played 3 matches, scoring 33 runs at an average of 5.50 and picking 8 wickets at an average of 31.75, an economy of 2.79 and a strike rate of 68.2.

In ODIs, he made his debut in April 2009 against Scotland and has featured in 167 matches so far. He has scored 3,600 runs at an average of 27.48 and picked up 172 wickets at an average of 32.47, an economy of 4.27 and a strike rate of 45.5.

Cricket Addictor reports that in T20Is, he has played 130 matches and scored 2,209 runs at an average of 22.54 after making his debut in February 2010 against Ireland.

With the ball, he has bagged 97 wickets at an average of 28.01, an economy of 7.33, and a strike rate of 22.9.

Wednesday’s outcome in Harare meanwhile was only the second time Afghanistan has lost to Zimbabwe.

Speaking after the match, skipper Rashid Khan said that their mindset was to go on the field and put a good total on the board but that they were about 15 or so runs shy of this.

Afghanistan’s 2nd T20I will be played on Friday at the same venue.

The squad is as follows:

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sediqullah Atal, Hazratullah Zazai, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Mohammad Ishaq, Rashid Khan(c), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fareed Ahmad Malik

Zimbabwe (Playing XI): Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani(w), Dion Myers, Wessly Madhevere, Sikandar Raza(ci), Ryan Burl, Wellington Masakadza, Tashinga Musekiwa, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, Trevor Gwandu