Afghanistan reach Super 10 stage

The match in a tweet: Afghanistan through to first ever Super 10 stage as Nabi, Shenwari and Rashid skewer sloppy Zimbabwe  by 59 runs in Group B crunch clash

The hero: It's tempting to say there was eleven heroes wearing blue on the field as Afghanistan claimed their historic victory. But the truth is Afghanistan owe much and more to Mohammad Nabi. The hero with the ball against Hong Kong, he did it here against Zimbabwe with both when his country needed him most.

With Afghanistan in serious trouble at 4-63 after eight overs, Nabi first consolidated then exploded, blasting his way to a maiden T20 international half-century. He had his share of luck though. Nabi was on 20 when Zimbabwe missed a clear cut stumping opportunity, with the batsman a good couple of strides down the pitch as the ball evaded wicketkeeper Richard Mutumbami. He made them pay, smashing two sixes and four boundaries in a 32-ball knock that ended with him run out selflessly scrambling for a cheeky single in the final over.

The support cast: Rashid Khan's leg-spin proved the knockout blow for Zimbabwe. He bowled 13 dot balls in his four overs, and the only boundary he conceded was leg byes. He struck with his second ball as Vusi Sibanda top-edged a soft sweep to short fine leg. A googly had Sean Williams in all sorts and well stumped by Shehzad and Zimbabwe's last hope, Elton Chibumbura was deceived to spoon a catch to long-on. Zimbabwe simply had no answer to the guile and spin.

The cult hero: Mohammad Shahzad, the stocky, no-fuss powerful Afghanistan opener has quickly become a fan favourite. He certainly enjoys Zimbabwean bowling. In January he blasted an unbeaten 118 against this side in Sharjah. He looked on pace to repeat that dose in Nagpur until his untimely dismissal. Cricket is fun to watch when it's being played by a man who describes his gameplan thus: "There is no plan, only to hit every ball to the boundary."  Tendai Chatara saw four consecutive balls disappear to the rope in his first over. It happened thrice to Donald Tiripano. It was a change of angle from Sean Williams that finally did for Shahzad. After his first ball disappeared into the Nagpur stands Williams switched to over to the wicket. Shahzad reverse-swept it straight to point. He gave his team a fast start but he departed furious at having squandered the chance for something more.

The umpires: Zimbabwe's Malcolm Waller looked to have taken a decent catch in the outfield, coming in off the midwicket boundary and diving forward at the last moment to grab a catch offered by Shenwari. The batsman was headed off the field and the on-field umpires had given the soft signal for out as they asked the third umpire to check things out. What seemed a clean – and vital for Zimbabwe – catch suddenly seemed not so straight forward when viewed through a two-dimensional television. One angle looked good, one not so good. Ian Gould called for more replays and zooms and suddenly Shenwari was reprieved. Watch the video and judge for yourself.

The valiant effort:  Sean Williams made the initial breakthrough for Zimbabwe but Tinashe Panyangara ripped a hole in the Afghanistan top order. He claimed the Afghani skipper for a duck in his first over, cleverly digging the ball in as Asghar Stanikazi advanced down the wicket. Then in his second over he struck a double blow – first Gulbadin Naib dragged on off and three balls later Noor Ali Zadran flicked a delivery high for long-on to take a comfortable catch. Two overs had yielded 3-10. Sadly for the Africans it was the last time they were on top.

The turning point: Nabi raced down the wicket and heaved wildly at Wellington Masakadza's arm ball, missing by some distance. It should have been an easy stumping. The only problem for Zimbabwe was Mutumbami missed it too. Nabi was on 20. It's impossible to say what might have happened had the stumping been completed, but it certainly had a demoralising effect on Zimbabwe. From a position of strength, they were quickly put on the back foot. Panyangara returned and had his figures destroyed as Nabi raced to his fifty.

The 'oh no not again' moment: What is it with Zimbabwe and run outs? For the third game in succession the African side were involved in a run-out that left onlookers shaking their head, either in bemusement or apoplexy. Donald Triripano thought it unnecessary to slide his bat into the crease and was caught with his bat over the line but not yet grounded when Shenwari threw down the stumps. Can you really blame him though, with the example set by his skipper Hamilton Masakadza with Zimbabwe's first act in this tournament?

The extras: Seventeen – yes 17 – wides were bowled by Zimbabwe in this match

The stat: Zimbabwe had never beaten Afghanistan in a Twenty20 match before this game. On this performance it is a stat that isn't soon changing. Zimbabwe's highest successful chase in T20 cricket remains the 5-146 they scored against the Netherlands in 2014. The full member nation with Test status was always the underdog in this clash.

What it all means: Afghanistan's victory sees them qualify through to Group 1 in the Super 10 stage of the World T20. Things get a lot tougher from here on in. They now advance to play Sri Lanka, the World T20 defending champions, at Kolkata's Eden Gardens next Thursday. After that, matches against South Africa at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, England in Delhi and the West Indies back in Nagpur await.