Afghanistan 170 for 3 (Zadran 70*, Rahmat 43, Nyamhuri 2-43) beat Zimbabwe 169 (Raza 68, Rashid 3-41, Nabi 2-25, Sami 2-27, Farooqi 2-41) by seven wickets
Afghanistan’s chase was smooth because of how they had bowled and fielded after Zimbabwe decided to bat first.
He walked into bat in what was a familiar situation as Zimbabwe lost their first three wickets quickly. Their top order crumbled similarly even in the two round-robin matches of the tri-series. Farooqi cleaned up Tadiwanashe Marumani, before Omarzai had Brian Bennett caught and bowled with fine reflexes in his follow-through.
AM Ghazanfar, however, topped Omarzai’s efforts with a superb one-handed catch at short square leg after Tafadzwa Tsiga flicked Farooqi uppishly in the next over. When Sami had Brendan Taylor caught behind in the 13th over, Zimbabwe were in freefall at 55 for 4.
But Raza and Ryan Burl briefly rescued Zimbabwe. They focused on picking up the ones and twos, and played out Rashid’s first spell. Raza and Burl struck a few boundaries, until Zadran dropped the latter on 30. Raza soon reached his half-century, as it looked like the pair were about to drag Zimbabwe out of a tough situation.
Nabi’s second wicket followed soon afterwards when wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz affected a superb stumping. Wessley Madhevere missed the ball while coming down the track, as the ball deflected off his pad. Gurbaz collected the ball that was going away from him and broke the stumps in one motion, giving Nabi his 300th wicket across formats in international cricket.
Rashid then came back into the attack and picked up three quick wickets. He trapped Brad Evans lbw for 1 before bowling Newman Nyamhuri with a ball that he delivered from at least two yards behind the popping crease. Rashid then got the big one as Raza’s second attempt for a big hit in the over found the long-off fielder. He had earlier struck Rashid for a 98-metre six over midwicket.
Rashid looked primed to pick up his fourth wicket, but Wellington Masakadza and Blessing Muzarabani resisted him. In fact, the tenth-wicket pair lasted for nearly ten overs during which they added 32 runs. It was the second-highest partnership of Zimbabwe’s innings. When Sami trapped Masakadza for 8, it finally ended things for Zimbabwe as they posted a sub-par total in the final.
Afghanistan tore into the Zimbabwe attack in their reply. Zadran kicked things off with a flurry of boundaries off Evans, including a huge six over square leg in the fourth over. Gurbaz took over from that point, cracking the left-arm quick Nyamhuri for consecutive fours in the eighth over. He launched Muzarabani over fine leg, before picking up Evans down the ground for sixes.
Nyamhuri cut Gurbaz’s stay short when the batter carved a slower ball into Madhevere’s lap at point. Gurbaz struck six boundaries, including the two sixes, in his 31-ball 36. Nyamhuri also removed Sediqullah Atal shortly afterwards, as the left-hand batter was caught behind for 6.
Captain Rahmat Shah then took control of the chase. He picked the singles and doubles quite regularly with Zadran, who was also comfortable at the crease. The pair went through 77 balls without hitting a boundary, but hardly looked out of place. Rahmat’s cover-driven four in the 27th over broke the duck, before Zadran slogged Raza for another four in the over.
Rahmat slammed Masakadza’s short ball for his first six, hammered over midwicket, before Burl took an excellent catch at short midwicket with eight runs left in the chase. Rahmat made 43 off 63 balls with a four and a six each. Shahidi and Zadran, who struck four fours and a six in his 96-ball stay, scored the remaining runs easily thereafter.
Mohammad Isam is Cricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
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