Afghanistan will play Zimbabwe in the 1st Test at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, with the match beginning at 11:30 AM IST on 5 Nov.
Afghanistan have won all five of their recent matches, including a 7‑wicket win over Zimbabwe on 1 Nov (Afghanistan 81/3, Zimbabwe 79/10) and victories against Australia (119/2, 115/5), Scotland (121/4, 100/3), Oman (125/2, 120/4) and South Africa (112/3, 107/1). Zimbabwe, in contrast, have lost all five recent encounters with Afghanistan, with scores of 81/3 vs 79/10, 221/7 vs 202/5, 177/10 vs 140/10, 170/3 vs 169/10 and 294/10 vs 136/10.
Afghanistan have dominated the five most recent meetings, winning each by margins ranging from 7 wickets to 158 runs – 7 wickets (71 balls remaining), 19 runs, 37 runs, 7 wickets (93 balls remaining) and 158 runs.
Players to watch include Sikandar Raza (runs 245), Ibrahim Zadran (runs 191), Azmatullah Omarzai (runs 149), Rashid Khan (wickets 10), Brad Evans (wickets 11) and Fazalhaq Farooqi (wickets 8).