Mohammad Shahzad, Rahmat Shah’s fifties guide Afghanistan to 238 in 2nd ODI against Zimbabwe

Shahzad, Rahmat’s fifties guide AGH to 238 in 2nd ODI against ZIM

Riding on half-centuries from Mohammad Shahzad (64) and Rahmat Shah (53), Afghanistan posted decent total of 238 for the loss of 9 in the second One-Day International (ODI) against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club, Harare. Najibullah Zadran also scored a brisk 47 off 47 deliveries towards the end of innings which ensured Afghanistan reaching near the 250-run mark. From the Zimbabwe bowling unit, pacer Tendai Chatara took 3 wickets conceding just 36 runs in his 10 overs and was well supported by fellow pacer and Richard Ngarava and skipper Graeme Cremer who took 2 wickets apiece conceding 43 and 37 runs respectively. Zimbabwe are already trailing in this five-game series hav9ng lost their opening game by 12 runs (DLS Method). FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe, 2nd ODI at Harare

Opting to bat first, Afghanistan started on a cautious note. Shahzad and his fellow opener Noor Ali Zadran took some time to ease into the game. The Zimbabwe pacers also made sure of not letting any of these two to let their arms free and score easy runs. But against the run of play, Zimbabwe got their first success as they removed Ali Zadran just on the brink of completion of the 10th over. But Rahmat who walked in at No. 3 didn’t take much time to settle in. He started dealing in doubles and singles quickly to keep the scoreboard ticking. Shahzad, on the other hand, who had been quite all this time, accelerated his innings seeing his partner scoring runs regularly.

With Shahzad taking the aggressor’s role and Rahmat being the anchor, these two constructed an 84-run stand for the second wicket at about 4.94 Runs Per Over. But again, against the run of play, Shahzad lost his wicket, as he unsuccessfully tried sweeping a full delivery which went on to crash his leg stump off Cremer’s bowling. By the time, Shahzad departed, he had done the repairing work along with Rahmat to take Afghanistan to 118 runs for the loss of 2.

Asghar Stanikzai, the visitor’s skipper had many hopes riding on his shoulders after his Man of the Match innings on 50 in the first game. But the Zimbabwe bowlers restricted Stanikzai and got his wicket eventually. And soon at the other end, Rahmat too lost his wicket in a matter of 10 runs. These two wickets rocked the visitor’s innings and it appeared like the hosts would capitalise on this situation.

But Mohammad Nabi (33) and Najibullah Zadran (45) played sensible cricket to take their side out of a spot of bother. Both these had to start from scratch as they had lost two well-settled batsmen in quick succession. But despite this, both scored runs easily dealing in singles and doubles.

Once they settled down, both ensured of getting boundaries on every bad ball and doing so constructed 45 runs stand in just 9 overs. This partnership also guaranteed Afghanistan reaching the 200-run mark which looked very distant at one point. This partnership was broken with the wicket of Nabi. Later Gulabdin Naib (5), Rashid Khan (3), Dawlat Zadran (1) departed one after the other. But Najibullah kept the scoreboard ticking to ensure the side reaching a challenging total before getting out.

Brief scores:

Afghanistan 238 for 9 in 50 overs (Mohammad Shahzad 64, Rahmat Shah 53, Najibullah Zadran 45; Tendai Chatara 3 for 36, Graeme Cremer 2 for 37, Richard Ngarava 2 for 43) vs Zimbabwe