Afghanistan were 5 for 4, and Rashid Khan is now the first bowler to take 200 T20I wickets
Rashid Khan reached 200 men’s T20I wickets in Sharjah, and Azmatullah Omarzai’s 116 rescued Afghanistan from 5 for 4 to beat Zimbabwe by 19 runs and seal the series.
Oct 31, 2026
Rashid Khan needed one wicket in Sharjah on Thursday to become the first bowler to reach 200 in men’s T20 internationals. He got it in the ninth over of Zimbabwe’s chase, trapping Tadiwanashe Marumani lbw for 2. It was the only wicket he took all night, and it was the one everybody was waiting for.
That he had a total to bowl at was down to Azmatullah Omarzai. Afghanistan were 5 for 4 inside the powerplay, and they finished on 221 for 7. Zimbabwe got to 202 for 5, so Afghanistan won by 19 runs and took the three-match series with a game to spare.
200 in 120 matches
The milestone came in Rashid’s 120th T20I. Nobody else is close. England’s Adil Rashid is second on the list with 171 wickets from 153 matches, which leaves the Afghan 29 clear at the top and still adding.
His figures on the night were 4-0-29-1, which by his standards is ordinary. He had already done his damage with the bat, coming in at the end of Afghanistan’s innings and making 25 not out off six balls, three of them hit for six in a row in the last over.
From 5 for 4 to 221
The start was a mess. Afghanistan lost four wickets for five runs inside the powerplay, and the fifth went down in the ninth over.
Omarzai then hit 116 off 50 balls, his first T20I hundred, with 12 sixes and five fours. He is the fourth Afghanistan batter to make a T20I century. Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai made 52 off 27 at the other end, and the two put on 142, the highest stand in men’s T20Is for the sixth wicket or lower.
No side had ever made 200 in a T20I after losing their first four wickets for under 20. Afghanistan’s 221 for 7 is also their third-highest total in the format.
Raza’s hundred at 40
Zimbabwe did not go quietly. They were five down by the halfway mark, and then Sikandar Raza, the captain, hit an unbeaten 106 off 56 balls with nine sixes. At 40, he is the first player over that age to make a T20I century. He and debutant Tafadzwa Tsiga, who finished on 31 not out, added an unbroken 120 for the sixth wicket. Abdullah Ahmadzai took 2 for 34, and the gap was too big to close.
The third T20I is back in Sharjah on Sunday, 1 November, at 8pm IST. Afghanistan are going for a 3-0 sweep. Rashid goes into it on 200.