HARARE: Teenage spinner Allah Ghazanfar took five for 33 as Afghanistan overwhelmed Zimbabwe by eight wickets for a 2-0 One-day International series win here at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday.

The 18-year-old followed up a six-wicket haul against Bangladesh last month with a man-of-the-match show as the tourists crushed the hosts for the second time in three days.

The opening ODI in the three-match series was washed out on Tuesday.

Zimbabwe were put in to bat by Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi and, with the exception of veteran Sean Williams, who made 60 from 61 balls, flopped to be all out of 127.

Sediqullah Atal, fresh from a maiden ODI century on Thursday, top-scored with 52 as Afghanistan cruised to 131 for two in just 26.5 overs and completed a white-ball double after a Twenty20 series win.

It was the seventh ODI series triumph for Afghanistan over Zimbabwe with one drawn.

“It is wonderful to see youngsters like Ghazanfar coming into the team and making such a big impact,” Shahidi told reporters.

“Ghazanfar is doing very well for the team and, hopefully, he can maintain this momentum and bowl well going forward.”

Wreaking havoc with his off-break deliveries, Ghazanfar continued a memorable year in which he was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad that won the Indian Premier League.

Star leg-spinner Rashid Khan also tormented the hosts, taking three for 38 as the fragility of the Zimbabwe batters was exposed again. They were all out for 54 two days ago.

Williams, whose 61-ball knock included three sixes and six fours, was among only three Zimbabweans to reach double figures.

The top Zimbabwe scorer departed when his reverse sweep shot off Rashid was caught by 39-year-old Moha­m­­med Nabi at first slip.

Atal and Abdul Malik put on 84 for the first wicket before both fell in the space of 10 balls, leaving Shahidi (20 not out) to seal victory with 139 balls to spare.

A brilliant catch at deep extra cover by Brian Bennett spelt the end for Atal. Earlier, Malik got an inside edge to a Richard Ngarava delivery, which uprooted his leg stump.

The teams now move to southern city Bulawayo for a two-Test series, with the first starting on Dec 26.

SCOREBOARD

ZIMBABWE:

J. Gumbie c Sami b Ghazanfar3

B. Curran lbw Ghazanfar12

C. Ervine c Alikhil b Omarzai5

S. Williams c Nabi b Rashid60

S. Raza lbw Rashid13

B. Bennett lbw Rashid9

T. Marumani b Ghazanfar0

W. Masakadza b Ghazanfar0

N. Nyamhuri c Nabi b Ghazanfar7

R. Ngarava c Alikhil b Ahmad10

T. Gwandu not out1

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-4)7

TOTAL (all out, 30.1 overs)127

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-19 (Gumbie), 2-24 (Ervine), 3-24 (Curran), 4-60 (Raza), 5-70 (Bennett), 6-71 (Marumani), 7-71 (Masakadza), 8-89 (Nyamhuri), 9-119 (Williams)

BOWLING: Ahmad 3.1-0-11-1 (1w); Omarzai 6-2-17-1 (2w); Ghazanfar 10-0-33-5; Sami 3-0-25-0 (1w); Rashid 8-0-38-3

AFGHANISTAN:

S. Atal c Bennett b Gwandu52

A. Malik b Ngarava29

R. Shah not out17

H. Shahidi not out20

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-12)13

TOTAL (for two wkts, 26.5 overs)131

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-84 (Malik), 2-96 (Atal)

DID NOT BAT: M. Nabi, I. Alikhil, A. Omarzai, R. Khan, A.M. Ghazanfar, F. Ahmad, B. Sami

BOWLING: Ngarava 7-1-32-1 (4w); Gwandu 7-2-27-1 (3w); Nyamhuri 6-0-44-0 (5w); Raza 3-1-8-0; Masakadza 3.5-0-19-0

RESULT: Afghanistan won by two wickets.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: A.M. Ghazanfar

SERIES: Afghanistan won three-match series 2-0.

MAN-OF-THE-SERIES: Sediqullah Atal

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2024