Noor Ahmad starred for Afghanistan as he ran through the Zimbabwe line-up to pick up a five-wicket haul at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. His spell of 5-13 led to Zimbabwe being skittled for 79 in the 15th over of the innings. 

Only two Zimbabwe batters, Ryan Burl (30) and Wessly Madhevere (10), could reach double figures. They couldn't recover after being reduced to 13-3 in 3.2 overs. The 43-run partnership between Burl and Madhevere was the only positive, with the rest of the batters failing to get going. They lost their last seven wickets for just 23 runs in 29 deliveries to be bundled out with 33 balls left in the innings.

The run chase was a breeze for Afghanistan, who got over the line in the ninth over with seven wickets in hand. Skipper Ibrahim Zadran remained unbeaten on 25, while Azmatullah Omarzai also scored 18* runs off 12 balls.

ICC men’s T20I team rankings: Updated table after Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe 3-0

Afghanistan and Zimbabwe retained their 10th and 12th positions, respectively, in the latest ICC men's T20I rankings. While Afghanistan gained two rating points after winning three consecutive matches, Zimbabwe lost as many following the 0-3 series loss.

Rank

Team

Matches

Points

Rating

1

England

41

11021

269

2

India

76

20268

267

3

Australia

38

9868

260

4

New Zealand

55

13638

248

5

South Africa

53

12881

243

6

Pakistan

62

14883

240

7

West Indies

60

14155

236

8

Bangladesh

55

12220

222

9

Sri Lanka

52

11489

221

10

Afghanistan

44

9679

220

11

Ireland

29

5942

205

12

Zimbabwe

62

12417

200

13

USA

20

3650

183

14

Nepal

44

7968

181

15

Netherlands

24

4311

180

16

Namibia

41

7358

179

17

Scotland

23

4116

179

18

UAE

57

9961

175

19

Oman

44

6698

152

20

Canada

26

3864

149

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