Dominant Afghanistan sweep T20I series against Zimbabwe
Noor Ahmad produced career-best figures of 5/13 to set up his team's seven-wicket victory.
Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by 7 wickets to seal the T20I series 3-0 in Sharjah on Sunday.
Spinner Noor Ahmad was the star of the show as he cleaned up the Zimbabwean middle and lower order as Afghanistan bowled Zimbabwe out for 79 runs inside 15 overs.
After opting to bowl first, Afghanistan did the damage early, with Fazalhaq Farooqi and Azmatullah Omarzai striking on consecutive deliveries across the first two overs to send the Zimbabwean openers -- Innocent Kaia and Brian Bennett -- back to the pavilion.
Abdullah Tarakhail then got the prize wicket of captain Sikandar Raza to leave Zimbabwe in trouble at 13/3 in the 4th over.
Ryan Burl counter-attacked for Zimbabwe with a battling knock of 30 before Abdollah Ahmadzai trapped him LBW.
What followed was the Noor Ahmad show as he ran through the Zimbabwean middle and lower order as their innings folded for 79.
In reply, Mohammad Akram began in an aggressive manner for Afghanistan sprinting to 14 off just five deliveries before being dismissed by Blessing Muzarabani. Sediqullah Atal replaced him at the crease and continued the onslaught to add 20 runs off 14 deliveries before falling to Ernest Masuku.
Masuku then got Zimbabwe's third wicket sending Noor ul Rahman back to the hut to give Zimbabwe a glimmer.
But the experienced duo of Ibrahim Zadran (25*) and Azmatullah Omarzai (18*) quickly snuffed out any hopes of a Zimbabwean revival with a steady partnership that saw Afghanistan home.
Afghanistan had already secured the series victory, after winning the first two T20Is.
Riding on Omarzai's 116 off just 50 deliveries in the second T20I, Afghanistan edged Zimbabwe by 19 runs who fell short despite a heroic hundred from Raza who smashed 106 from just 56 deliveries.
Rashid Khan's all-round brilliance took centre-stage in the first game as Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by 37 runs to open the series on a solid note.
The two teams now switch to the longest format in a two-match Test series starting 5 November.