HARARE: Opening batter Sediqullah Atal’s anchoring century, coupled with a combined bowling effort, led Afghanistan to a massive 232-run victory over Zimbabwe in the second ODI of the three-match series here at the Harare Sports Club on Thursday.
The resounding victory was Afghanistan’s biggest in terms of runs, surpassing their previous best of 177 runs which came against South Africa earlier this year.
The 232-run victory of Afghanistan, however, was the joint 22nd-biggest overall in the format, with India’s 317-run routing of Sri Lanka last year remained the largest ODI win ever.
On the other hand, it was Zimbabwe’s third-biggest defeat in the ODIs after their 272 and 242 runs defeat against South Africa and Pakistan, respectively.
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Coming back to the match, Zimbabwe’s captain Craig Ervine won the toss and put Afghanistan into bat.
The visitors put on a sublime performance with the bat as they racked up 286/6 in their allotted 50 overs, thanks to a magnificent opening partnership.
The opening pair yielded 191 runs before culminating with Abdul Malik’s dismissal in the 35th over.
The right-handed batter scored 84 off 101 deliveries with the help of a dozen boundaries, which included a six.
Their star with the bat Sediqullah, however, carried his bat until the 43rd over and top-scored for the touring side with his maiden ODI century.
Sediqullah smashed eight fours and four sixes on his way to a 128-ball 104.
Besides the openers, skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi contributed significantly with his unbeaten 29 from 30 deliveries.
Newman Nyamhuri led the bowling charge for Zimbabwe with three wickets, while Trevor Gwandu bagged two.
Chasing a daunting 287-run target, Zimbabwe’s batting unit was blown away by a ruthless Afghanistan’s bowling attack.
The home side, as a result, only managed to score 54 runs before getting bowled out in the 18th over.
Experienced all-rounders Sean Williams (16) and Sikandar Raza (19) were the only batters to amass the double figures.
Notably, Zimbabwe’s 54 all out was their joint fourth-lowest total in the format, with their lowest being 35 all out which came against Sri Lanka in 2004.
This news is sourced from [Geo Super] and is for informational purposes only.
