zimbabwe 44 for 5 (Curran 15, Umarzai 4-18) vs afghanistan
match canceled
Rain played havoc as the first ODI between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe was abandoned after only 9.2 overs of play.
Earlier, due to continuous rain, the start of the game was delayed by about four hours and the game was reduced to 28 overs each. When the weather finally cleared, Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi had no hesitation in bowling given the favorable conditions.
For Afghanistan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz was ruled out of the series with a Grade 2B quadriceps injury as well as a hamstring hip flexor injury, while Mujeeb ur Rahman was rested from the series. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe gave debuts to left-handed batsman Ben Curran and left-arm fast bowler Newman Nyamauri.
Tadivanashe Marumani got Zimbabwe’s boundary counter going with a neat cover drive off Faruqi, but it was undone by a peach of an in-dipper from Omarzai, which flattened its middle pole. Brian Bennett, the leading run-scorer in the last T20I series, then fell to Umarzai on the first ball, while Mohammad Nabi had a sharp chance caught to his right at second slip.
Dion Myers got a few drives, but was trapped in front of the stumps when he misread the AM Ghazanfar carrom ball and was caught behind. Umarzai then removed Curran in the eighth over, who went for a flashing drive, but the outside edge of the ball reached the wicketkeeper. After three balls it was Sean Williams’ turn to leave. He hung his bat on a full length ball from Umarzai, but the edge of the ball reached Ikram Alikhil.
Flood lights were switched on right from the start and rain came after two balls of the ninth over, ending the game. Even in his short innings, Umarzai made a mark by taking 4 wickets for 18 runs in his four overs.
The second ODI will be played on this ground on 19th December.
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