Afghanistan defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the second One-day international at Sharjah on Tuesday to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match One-day International series. It was an excellent performance by Mohammad Shahzad who played an excellent innings to guide Afghanistan to their second victory of the series.
Afghanistan chased down the target of 254 with the help of Shahzad and Noor Ali Zadran who put on 82 runs for the first wicket before Noor Ali Zadran was dismissed for 31. After that Shahzad and Mohammad Nabi put on 87 for the second wicket before a middle order collapse had reduced them to 198 for 6. Mohammad Shahzad held his nerve and scored an unbeaten 131 to help Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by 4 wickets with 14 balls to spare. It was a brilliant effort Shahzad who played an excellent knock. It was the highest score by an Afghan batsman. Chigumbura was the pick of the bowlers for Zimbabwe picking 3 wickets for 32 runs in 7 over’s.
Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat. Moor and Mutumbami put on 71 for the first wicket. Moor completed his half century before Zimbabwe lost 2 quick wickets when the score was 72. Masakazada and Ervine stitched an important 98 runs for the third wicket before Masakazda was dismissed for 47. Ervine was the top scorer with 73. Zimbabwe posted a much better total of 253 for 7 in 50 over’s. The pick of the bowlers for Afghanistan was Dawlat Zadran picking 3 for 57 in 10 over’s.
In the first match, Zimbabwe was bowled out for 82 runs. This is a special win for Afghanistan team who chased down the target with lots of confidence despite some hiccups.
Brief Scores: Zimbabwe 253 for 7 (50 over’s)- Craig Ervine 73, Peter Moore 50 , Dawlat Zadran 3/57)
Afghanistan: 254 for 6 in 47.4 over’s- Mohammad Shahzad-131, Elton Chigumbura 3/32)