Zimbabwe bat with two changes; Farooqi back for Afghanistan

Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza chose to bat first against Afghanistan in the tri-series final in Sharjah. It is a crucial toss to win in day-night matches at this venue, where sides batting first who score more than 250 often have a better chance to win the match.

Zimbabwe have brought back left-arm quick Newman Nyamhuri in place of Ernest Masuku, who took three wickets against Afghanistan in their round-robin encounter. They have also included Tadiwanashe Marumani in place of the misfiring Ben Curran in the opening slot. Craig Ervine's unavailability continues to hurt Zimbabwe.

Afghanistan made just the one change, bringing back the rested Fazalhaq Farooqi, in place of Yamin Ahmadzai.

Afghanistan have been the best team in the tournament so far, beating both Zimbabwe and Bangladesh comprehensively. Zimbabwe made it to the final on the back of their 99-run win against Bangladesh in the opening game.

Sharjah meanwhile is hosting its first final in 23 years, and incidentally, Zimbabwe played in that match against Pakistan in 2003.

Afghanistan: 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Sediqullah Atal, 4 Rahmat Shah (capt), 5 Hashmatullah Shahidi, 6 Azmatullah Omarzai, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 AM Ghazanfar, 10 Bilal Sami, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi

Zimbabwe: 1 Brian Bennett, 2 Tadiwanashe Marumani, 3 Tafadzwa Tsiga, 4 Brendan Taylor (wk), 5 Sikandar Raza (capt), 6 Ryan Burl, 7 Wessley Madhevere, 8 Brad Evans, 9 Wellington Masakadza, 10 Newman Nyamhuri, 11 Blessing Muzarabani