Published: Mar 06, 2018, 12:10 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 06, 2018, 08:36 PM (IST)
Hello and welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage of ICC World Cup Qualifiers 2018. Match 7 of the tournament will see Afghanistan take on Zimbabwe at Bulawayo. Afghanistan were left stunned by Scotland on Sunday when Calum Macleod’s unbeaten 146-ball 157 threw Group B open on the opening day. Zimbabwe, on the other hand, had an easy win over Nepal. All Zimbabwe will hope on Tuesday is to capitalise early on the wounds of Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Rashid Khan and co. will aim to recover from the stumble. They had seen off Zimbabwe 4-1 in the ODI series at Sharjah last month.
However, Zimbabwe have pressures of their own. Apart from being the home side, they have struggled with their form in ODIs in the recent past. Despite that, they managed to put up their best batting show against Nepal on Sunday. Sikandar Raza’s all-round performance — 66-ball 123 and 3 for 48 — propelled them to the top of the table. As for the conditions, clear skies are expected in Bulawayo on Tuesday and this tie should go ahead without any interruption. It was on this wicket that Zimbabwe had scored 380 and thrashed Nepal. A similar run-fest can be expected on Tuesday.
Squads:
Zimbabwe: Graeme Cremer (c), Brendan Taylor (wk), Tendai Chatara, Tendai Chisoro, Craig Ervine, Kyle Jarvis, Hamilton Masakadza, Solomon Mire, Peter Moor, Blessing Muzarabani, Sikandar Raza, Brian Vitori, Malcolm Waller, Sean Williams, Cephas Zhuwao.
Afghanistan: Rashid Khan (c), Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Javed Ahmadi, Ihsanullah Janat, Najibullah Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Samiullah Shenwari, Nasir Jamal, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran.
