Zimbabwe won the toss and chose to bat on a day that ended with them bowled out for 169 in 43.3 overs. Afghanistan replied with 170/3 in 34.3 overs, which means the chase was done with more than a full innings of balls still unused. The margin looks comfortable on the scorecard, but the match was really decided by how quickly Zimbabwe lost their shape.
The top order went first. Zimbabwe were 22/1 after 4.2 overs, 26/3 by 6.4 overs, and 55/4 when Brendan Taylor fell in the 12th over. Ryan Burl then played the innings that gave the total some substance, scoring 31 off 45 balls before he was out at 115 in the 26th over. Sikandar Raza was the only batter who really stood up after that, making 68 off 83 balls with three fours and three sixes, but he was out at 137 in the 33rd over with the innings already running out of partners.
The collapse that mattered came after Burl's dismissal. Zimbabwe lost five more wickets for just 54 runs, falling from 115/5 to 169 all out. Afghanistan's bowlers were a big part of that. Rashid Khan took 3/41 in 10 overs, Mohammad Nabi returned 2/25 in 10, and Bilal Sami took 2/27 in 5.3 overs. Newman Nyamhuri took 2/30 in six overs for Zimbabwe, but the rest of their attack could not keep the score under control once the lower order was exposed.
Afghanistan's chase was built on a solid base. Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit 36 off 31 balls, with four fours and two sixes, before he was out at 68 in the ninth over. Sediqullah Atal fell at 80 in the 13th, and that opened the door for Rahmat Shah and Ibrahim Zadran. The pair added 82 runs for the third wicket before Shah was out for 43 off 63 balls at 162 in the 32nd over. Zadran finished unbeaten on 70 off 96 balls, with four fours and one six, and he was named Player of the Match.
The scorecard gives a clear picture of the result but not much beyond it. It does not include the tri-series table or the fixtures that came before this final, so the series implications have to be read from the result alone. What the match does establish is that Afghanistan closed out the final with a seven-wicket win, and that Zimbabwe's batting problem was not a single bad session but a collapse that began in the first seven overs and never really stopped.