ZIM vs AFG 2024/25, Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan 3rd ODI, Harare Match Report, December 21, 2024

afghanistan Defeated by 131 for 2 wickets (Atal 52, Gwandu 1-27) zimbabwe 127 (Williams 60, Ghazanfar 5-33, Rashid 3-38) by eight wickets

shawn williams slog-flow Rashid Khan In the 24th over of Zimbabwe’s innings, but the ball went over the top edge to Hashmatullah Shahidi at midwicket. Shahidi tried to catch it with a reverse cup, but dropped the ball – possibly due to the sun in his eyes – and by then the loudest cheers were invited from the sparse crowd at Harare Sports Club.

In fact, there was no possibility for him to do much, as Zimbabwe’s score at that time was 89 runs for 8 wickets. Williams, who was on 33 at the time, scored 60 at less than one run per ball and took his team to 127 in 30.1 overs. Afghanistan achieved the target of 128 runs with eight wickets and 23 overs remaining. Sediqullah Atal Played an innings of 104 runs in the second ODI and scored 52 runs in 50 balls in the third ODI, hitting four fours and two sixes, and Afghanistan won the series 2-0 over Zimbabwe after the first ODI was washed out due to rain.

This gave Afghanistan their rights sixth consecutive An ODI series win over Zimbabwe, who have yet to beat them in a bilateral series in seven attempts – the first attempt, in July 2014, was shared 2–2.

The chase began with just 15 runs in the first six overs as Zimbabwe kept it tight. But Atal drove and got a top edge for four runs off Richard Ngarawa in the seventh over, giving Afghanistan the lead. Although the second opener Abdul Malik took his time, Atal attacked from the other end and completed his half-century in the 11th over. The partnership ended at 83 when Ngarawa dismissed Malik for 29, before Brian Bennett made a brilliant run to his left, diving to send Atal back. However, Shahidi and Rehmat Shah had no trouble completing the task.

But the foundation of Afghanistan’s victory on Saturday was laid by the 18-year-old offspinner. AM GhazanfarHe bowled his quota of ten overs without any changes, starting seventh, and finished with 5 for 33, which was only his second ODI in 11 matches in which he took five wickets. Shahidi won the toss and decided to bowl first and his bowlers proved this decision right. Even after the powerplay, Afghanistan’s fast bowlers were getting a lot of swing, while their spinners almost magically turned the ball both ways.

Eight out of ten wickets went to Ghazanfar and Rashid, who took 3 wickets for 38 runs. However, this was a result of both the batsmen not reading them well and the on-field umpires making controversial decisions – perhaps not reading the bowlers well either. In a series where the teams did not have DRS to play, Craig Erwin and Ben Curran walked out unhappy. Even Sikandar Raza shook his head when he was given out LBW off Rashid, but whether he did so because he was disappointed with the umpire or with himself… who can tell.

There was a small collapse as well as a major collapse in Zimbabwe’s innings. But before any of that, Afghanistan’s new ball bowlers Farid Ahmed and Azmatullah Omarzai Openers Curran and Joylord maintained a tight grip on Gambi. Twenty-two of the first 28 balls were dot; There were four more men to start the seventh over, after which Zimbabwe lost three wickets for five runs in no time.

It started with Gambi top-edging an attempt to sweep Ghazanfar’s ball to short fine leg. In the next over, Umarzai got a run through the seam off Irwin, which went square after the ball went past him. Irwin was given out caught behind the wicket, but no mark was seen. Ghazanfar got his second chance when he trapped Curran for 12 in the ninth over, although the first impression was that the ball was heading down the leg side.

This was followed by a brief rebuilding by senior hands Raza and Williams. After 14 overs, Williams scored 21 runs from his first 22 balls, which included three fours and a six. But Raza’s wicket in the 16th over started a phase where Zimbabwe lost five wickets for 29 runs. He was hit by Rashid on his back leg and was declared LBW on 13 runs. In his next over, Rashid also had Bennett LBW with a googly, as Bennett was playing on the wrong line.

Ghazanfar then got two more, one after the other, in almost identical fashion. He clean bowled both left-handers Tadivanashe Marumani and Wellington Masakadza in the same over in the 19th over of the innings and each time, the carrom ball did the trick, rotating around the wicket. Both batsmen swung across the line, leaving a large gap between bat and pad for the ball to hit the off stump. On a hat-trick ball, Ghazanfar beat Newman Nyamuri on the outside edge, with Shahidi placing three slips to the right-hander.

Meanwhile, Williams kept ticking at the other end, even though she had no partners. He dismissed Rashid over midwicket for four, and slogged it over square leg for six, while Ghazanfar completed his five-for by top-edging Nyamauri to slip mid-on.

Williams added 30 runs for the ninth wicket with Ngarawa and brought up his 36th ODI half-century when he hit debutant fast bowler Bilal Sami to deep backward point. Williams hit a four and a six on consecutive balls of birthday boy Sami in the 14th over.

But when going for a reverse sweep against Rashid in the 28th, Williams took a tumble at slip, where Mohammad Nabi caught him. Zimbabwe’s innings lasted only 15 balls, with Ngarawa and Trevor Gwandu adding eight runs. The defeat ended a year when Zimbabwe’s collective batting averages were at their peak lowest 14.22 (with a minimum of nine batting innings).

Himanshu Agarwal is sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Source link