The third and final T20 match of the series between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe took place on November 1st at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah. In this game, Afghanistan won by seven wickets, thus concluding the series with a 3-0 result in favor of Afghanistan.
During the match, the atmosphere on the field intensified. A tense verbal altercation occurred between Afghanistan's star leg spinner, Rashid Khan, and Zimbabwe batsman Ryan Berle. Both players were face-to-face on the field, requiring intervention from the umpires.
This incident happened in the ninth over of Zimbabwe's innings. On the second ball of that over, Rashid Khan appealed for LBW against Ryan Berle, but the umpire ruled that the Zimbabwean batsman was not out. Since the DRS system was not available in the series, Rashid appeared dissatisfied with the decision. The dispute between the two players began after the fifth ball of the over.
As the situation escalated, umpire Ahmed Shah Pathan separated the players. The tension persisted even after the end of the over, necessitating the intervention of the second umpire, Farouk Khan. However, interestingly, the tension on the field later resolved in a lighter manner: Rashid sent Ryan Berle, who was sitting on the bench, an air kiss, a video of which became a topic of discussion on social media.
Ryan Berle scored the most runs for Zimbabwe, making 30 runs. Nevertheless, he did not receive sufficient support from the other side, and the Zimbabwe team was dismissed in just 14.3 overs, having scored 79 runs. For Afghanistan, Nur Ahmad delivered a brilliant performance, taking five wickets for 13 runs in 3.3 overs. This marked his first five-wicket haul in his T20 International career.
In response, Afghanistan reached the target of 80 runs in just 49 balls, easily concluding the series and securing a clean sweep against Zimbabwe. Besides Afghanistan's brilliant victory, the incident between Rashid Khan and Ryan Berle also attracted public attention.
