HARARE: The Afghan bowling attack wreaked havoc over Zimbabwe in the third ODI before the batters held nerves to guide their side to a clean sweep victory in the recently-concluded three-match series.

In the third ODI of the three-match series, Afghanistan defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in a low scoring contest and sealed the series 3-0.

After putting the hosts in to bat first, Afghan bowlers wreaked havoc over the Zimbabwean batting line as the combined bowling effort resulted in Zimbabwe bowling out for a skimpy 135.

The home side’s middle-order batter Sikander Raza resisted a bit with his valiant knock of 38 runs off 77 balls, but he too, could not pull his side out of the misery as Rashid Khan’s led bowling attack did not let the Zimbabwean batters score freely.

For Afghanistan, Rashid led the way with three wickets, while Mohammad Nabi and Fazalhaq Farooqi bagged two wickets each. Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Fareed Ahmad, and Azmatullah Omarzai, on the other hand, made one scalp apiece.

In the run chase, Afghanistan were off to a similar dismal start as the touring side lost three wickets for a mere 39 runs.

Afghan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi then stood up for his team and kept the scoreboard ticking briefly with Najeebullah Zadran before the latter fell after adding nine runs to his team’s total.

Shahidi then joined hands with Nabi and took his team closer to the victory before falling against Dion Myers in the 33rd over. He top-scored for the side with his 38 off 70 balls, laced with five boundaries.

Following Shahidi’s dismissal, Nabi then made sure his team a victory and remained unbeaten with his brilliant knock of 34 runs off 47 balls, including two boundaries and a six.

For Zimbabwe, Blessing Muzarabani and Tendai Chatara took two wickets each, while Myers and Ryan Burl struck out a batter each.

For his 3/31 in the match, Rashid was adjudged as the Player of the match, whereas, Rahmat Shah was declared the Player of the Series for his 198 runs in a three-match series.

Afghanistan’s clean sweep victory over Zimbabwe has bolstered them to claim the second position in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup Super League, moving past England.

 

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