Zim vs Afg 4th ODI Review: Zimbabwe beat Afghanistan by 65 runs

The series was going on the right track with Zimbabwe bouncing back and posting a massive 117 run win in the third ODI after Afghanistan were leading 2-1 in the ODI Series. Afghanistan wanted to win this game and win the series in the Zimbabwe’s tour to Afghanistan and Zimbabwe fought for their lost pride and didn’t want to lose out on another series after last year’s Afghanistan’s Zimbabwe tour defeat.

Afghanistan again after a brilliant piece of death bowling restricting lost the match to a completely flawed batting and starts from Shahzad and Shahidi didn’t help them take the title. On the other hand, Zimbabwe won the toss and chose to bat first on a batting surface but their tail didn’t wag long enough and scoring a smaller total than expected but their bowling department performed really well and helped them draw the series 2-2.

Things didn’t go as planned for the Afghans in the beginning as their bowling didn’t reap rewards for the first 20 overs after they lost the toss to the visitors who put the hosts to field first. The unchanged Zimbabweans got off to a great start with an opening stand of 92 in almost 23 overs. PJ Moor eventually fell for a well made 52 to an easy catch to Dawlat Zadran. Chibhabha was joined by Waller in the crease and both of them kept the scoreboard ticking with almost a boundary per over.

The partnership seemed to build on well but shortly after Chibhabha reached to his 50, Waller fell to Mirwais Ashraf after Hashmatullah Shahidi took a catch after making two attempts to grab onto the ball. Zimbabwe who were just feeling the heat of losing Waller, lost the settled Chibhabha in the span of three years to a brilliant one hand catch by the skipper Asghar Stanikzai at mid-wicket. In walked in the in-form Hamilton Masakadza but his stay was short-lived when he departed for a score of 26. The tail didn’t live up to its reputation with Sikandar Raza, Graeme Cremer and Luke Jongwe falling cheaply.

In the end, the tail Enders jus could chip in some runs onto the scoreboard leaving Zimbabwe, who began positively and who looked like they would post a big score, falling really short and bundled out for 226 against the bowling of the Afghans. Zimbabwe couldn’t finish their 50 overs with Chisoro falling for a golden duck in the last over. It was the brilliance of Dawlat Zadran and Rashid Khan who picked up three wickets each which helped them to restrict the visitors. The standout knocks from Zimbabwe’s play were from Chibhabha and Moor’s half-centuries which helped them post a respectable total on the board.

The erroneous batting of the Afghans was tested again and they didn’t stand against the Zimbabwean bowling yet again. They lost Noor Zadran in the very first over leaving the score at 4 with the fall of 1 wicket. One-down Asghar Stanikzai went back to the pavilion at the end of the fourth over. The hosts changed the batting order bringing in Rashid Khan, the no. 9 from the previous match trying to alter the team’s fortunes. But then, the experiment didn’t work out and after a small partnership of 21, Rashid Khan departed for 10 to a brilliant catch by Hamilton Masakadza at backward point.

It wasn’t long before Nabi was back in the pavilion as well, leaving Afghanistan struggling at 52/4 at the end of 16 overs. A partnership started to build on between Hashmatullah and Shahzad for almost ten overs but the partnership was broken by Chibhabha taking Shahzad for 45 who was looking good for a 50. Bad cricket followed on, with Sadiq trying to chip in the air and the mid-off completing a simple catch and Shafiqullah edging one to the keeper and the Afghans were 7 down with a lot more to chase. It started to look like a case where players just came in and went back with the partnerships failing one after the other. With 91 needed off the last 10, Afghanistan continued to falter and Zimbabwe continued to dominate the match. Shahidi’s resistance was broken down when he was dismissed for 31 followed by Mirwais Ashraf losing his timber contributing 18 runs to his team.  In the conclusion, Amir Hamza fell to Jongwe ending the hosts’ innings at 161 and losing the match by 45 runs.

Chibhabha had a match to remember with a half-century at the top and four crucial wickets to his name. Jongwe, Cremer and Madziva supported him by taking two wickets each. The things started out with Madziva putting pressure right at the top with a wicket in the first over and Afghanistan never looked liked they recovered from the blow and lost the script to the game. Zimbabwe came back really well after going down 2-0. The next match will become a crucial encounter with both teams locking horns in a hope to win the title. With this win, Zimbabwe are back to No.10 in the ODI Rankings as they would like it to be.

Brief Scores:
Zimbabwe: 226 (Peter Moor 52, Chamu Chibhabha 53, Dawlat Zadran 3/54, Rashid Khan 3/43)

Afghanistan: 161 (Md. Shahzad 45, Hashmatullah Shahidi 31, Chamu Chibhabha 4/25, N Madziva 2/22)

Zimbabwe beat Afghanistan by 65 runs

Man of the Match: Chamu Chibhabha