Opener Sediqullah Atal slammed his maiden ODI century while off-spinner A.M. Ghazanfar picked 3-9 as Afghanistan secured their biggest win in the 50-over format by runs with a 232-run win over Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club.
Put into batting first on a sunny Thursday morning, Atal and his opening partner Abdul Malik hit 104 and 84 respectively while sharing a 191-run opening stand to take Afghanistan to 286/6 in their 50 overs. In reply, led by Ghazanfar, Zimbabwe were unable to get going and were bundled out for just 54 in 17.5 overs. It’s also the joint-lowest Afghanistan have dismissed any side in their history of ODI cricket so far.
Afghanistan now have a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, with the first ODI abandoned due to rain. They would be pleased with how Atal and Malik stepped up for the team, considering Ibrahim Zadran is still recovering ankle injury while Rahmanullah Gurbaz was ruled out of the ongoing tour due to a quadriceps injury.
With Atal and Malik finding boundaries regularly, the duo were able to flatten Zimbabwe’s bowlers with immaculate ease. Despite the duo, Azmatullah Omarzai and Rahmat Shah falling, Hashmatullah Shahidi (29 not out) and Mohammad Nabi (18) took them past 280.
In defence of the big total, Ghazanfar bamboozled Zimbabwe after Omarzai and Fazalhaq Farooqi ran through the top order in the first ten overs. Fast bowler Naveed Zadran scythed through the lower order to end with 3-13 and give Afghanistan a massive victory.
The third and final game of the series will be played at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday, following which Afghanistan and Zimbabwe will go to Bulawayo for the Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 286/6 in 50 overs (Sediqullah Atal 104, Abdul Malik 84, Newman Nyamhuri 3-53) beat Zimbabwe 54 in 17.5 overs (Allah Ghazanfar 3-9, Naveed Zadran 3-13) by 232 runs.
