Published: Jan 07, 2016, 02:15 AM (IST)
Edited: Jan 07, 2016, 02:23 AM (IST)
Afghanistan won a thrilling series decider against Zimbabwe by two wickets with two balls remaining in the fifth One-Day International (ODI), courtesy of an unbeaten 68-ball 82 by all-rounder Gulbadin Naib. Courtesy of this win Afghanistan have now managed to retain their place in the Top 10 of the ICC ranking. They had broken into the Top 10 after their 49-run win in the first match of the tournament. They however had to win the series to retain their place in the top 1 and they have done just that. This was the second time Afghanistan are winning a series against a Test playing nation. They had beaten Zimbabwe by the same margin in October 2015. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe, 5th ODI at Sharjah
Afghanistan through this win have announced to the world that they are a serious cricketing nation and will hope to take on a few bigger teams to prove their worth. Afghanistan’s resurgence began when they managed to qualify to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, a tournament in which they performed admirably and also registered a win in their maiden appearance, which came against Scotland. They also pushed former champions Sri Lanka to the limit, but lost the game due to Mahela Jayawardene’s heroics. READ: Gulbadin Naib’s 82 ensures Afghanistan win 5th ODI against Zimbabwe by 2 wickets; win series 3-2
Thanks to Almighty Allah for blessing me tonight with such a marvellous performance to bring triumph to my team .
— GulBadin Naib (@GbNaib) January 6, 2016
TRENDING NOW
Afghanistan will now be a part of the ICC World T20 2016, which is scheduled to be played in India from March 2016. They participated in the qualifiers, which were held in Scotland and Ireland in July 2015 and six associate teams, including Afghanistan managed to qualify. How far they will go in this tournament is to be seen, but they will look to get some good practice in the upcoming T20International (T20I) series against Zimbabwe starting in a few days.
