After the end of the momentous test series between Afg and WI that had tied, both the teams stood against each other for the three T20I matches. The first T20I match of the Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe series 2021 was played at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on 17 March 2021. Zimbabwe won the toss and opted to have the ball in hand first. Mujeeb Ur Rahman, fast bowler Hamid Hassan, and all-rounder Gulbadin Naib missed the first T20 match because all of them were quarantined. The Zimbabwe captain won the toss and decided to have the ball in hand first. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Karim Janat came on the crease and Sikandar Raza got the new ball in hand to open the attack.
Afghanistan got a nice start and both the openers had put the first 50 runs on the scoreboard without any loss in 4.3 overs. After the end of the first Powerplay, Afghan batsmen had made 66 runs without any loss and maintained the run rate of 11. Rahmanullah Gurbaz completed his half-century from 26 balls only and that was his 2nd T20I fifty. Zimbabwe got the first breakthrough of Karim Janat at the score of 80 runs. Both the openers gave a good start and had made an opening partnership of 80 runs for their team. The captain himself, Asghar Afghan came out to the middle to join Rahmanullah Gurbaz and had built another crucial partnership of 74 runs for the first wicket. Afghanistan had completely dominated the Zimbabwe bowlers and had put a total of 198 runs on the scoreboard. Rahmanullah Gurbaz contributed 87 runs from 45 balls and Asghar Afghan made 55 runs from 38 balls and that was his 3rd international T20 fifty in his 69 T20I matches. Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava got 2 wickets each, Ryan Burl took 1 wicket for their team. Zimbabwe needed 199 runs from 120 balls to win the 1st T20I match of the series between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.
Tinashe Kamunhukamwe who was playing his 2nd T20I and Tarisai Musakanda were sent to chase the target and Naveen-ul-Haq got the new ball in hand to open the attack. Zimbabwe got an average start but lost the first wicket of Tarisai Musakanda at the score of 38 runs in 4.5 overs. After the dismissal, Zimbabwe captain Sean Williams came out to the middle in order to handle the situation but he also could not do well and returned back at the score of 83 runs. Tinashe Kamunhukamwe who was looking good with the bat was also dismissed by the leg spinner Rashid Khan in 13.1 overs. After his dismissal, Zimbabwe batsmen could not maintain the required run rate and were dominated very badly by the Afghan bowlers. At the end of the 20 overs, Zimbabwe could make only 150 runs and lost the match by 48 runs. Rashid Khan without any doubt bowled awesomely and took 3 wickets of opposition. Fareed Ahmad and Karim Janat also got 2 wickets each for their team.
Afghanistan won the 1st T20I of Afg vs Zim series 2021 by 46 runs and led the series by 1-0. Rahmanullah Gurbaz was named Man of the Match for his outstanding 87 runs and that was his highest score in the T20I career.