The young off-spinner from Afghanistan, Allah Ghazanfar, has joined an elite list of players during the third of the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club. The visiting side was running ahead in the series with a 0-1 margin going into the final 50-over event.
In the same clash of the series, Allah Ghazanfar had already enjoyed a superb spell of three wickets in 3.5 overs, giving away just nine runs at an economy of 2.3 as the home Zimbabwe side was bundled out for 54 in their chase of 287 runs in just 17.5 overs.
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss in the third fixture and decided to bowl first under clear conditions. It was another flop-bating show from the top order of the home side, who found themselves three down inside the first nine overs.
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It was only Sean Williams who stood for the entire innings and carried themselves over the 100-run mark. The second-highest score from the home side was just 13 runs from their skipper, Sikandar Raza.
Allah Ghazanfar joins Rashid Khan and Waqar Younis on the elite list
Allah Ghazanfar picked up the wicket of Joylord Gumbie to open his account before he trapped the debutant in the series, Ben Curran, before the stumps for a score of just 12 runs in 31 deliveries. He also sent back the wicket-keeper of the hots, T Marumani, and the spin all-rounder, Wellington Masakadza on back-to-back deliveries before Newman Naymhuri became his fifth scalp.
The 18-year-old spinner celebrated his second five-wicket haul in the 50-over format to now carry 21 scalps in the form of the game at an average of around 13 and a strike rate of 20 with an economy rate of 4.57 with a best bowling figure of 6/26.
Allah Ghazanfar has now joined an elite list of players to pick multiple five-wicket hauls as a teenager, as the former Pakistan right-arm pacer Waqar Younis has topped the chart with five five-wicket hauls, while Rashid Khan has also been part of the list at the age of 19.
In November last year, he became the fifth youngest player to take a five-wicket haul at the age of 18 years and 231 days. He finished with figures of 6/26 in that innings in 6.3 overs against the Bangladesh side, under the captaincy of Najmul Hossain Shanto at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, which they went on to win by 92 runs.
The other bowlers to have celebrated five-wicket hauls as teenagers along with Allah Ghazanfar are the off-spinner of Afghanistan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Gulshan Jha, Wasim Akram, Taskin Ahmed, Aaqib Javed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sandeep Lamichhane, Mustafizur Rahman, Abdul Razzaq, Shaiz Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq.
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The entire batting lineup of the home side was bundled out for just 126 in the first innings before the visiting side chased it down with eight wickets in hand and nearly 23 overs to spare. Their opening, Atal, celebrated a 52-run knock in 50 deliveries at a strike rate of 104.
After making a thunderous start to his international career, Allah Ghazanfar also bagged a deal in the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he was picked by the five-time champions, Mumbai Indians (MI), for a huge price of INR 4.80 crore. In the previous edition of the IPL, he was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders camp but is yet to make his debut in the event.