Afghanistan Beat Zimbabwe By 8 Wickets In 3rd ODI

Afghanistan Beat Zimbabwe By 8 Wickets In 3rd ODI (Image Source: Google)

Teenage spinner Allah Ghazanfar took five for 33 as Afghanistan overwhelmed Zimbabwe by eight wickets on Saturday for a 2-0 one-day international series win.

The 18-year-old followed up a six-wicket haul against Bangladesh last month with a man-of-the-match show in Harare as the tourists crushed the hosts for the second time in three days.

The opening ODI in the three-match series was washed out on Tuesday.

Zimbabwe were put in to bat by Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi and, with the exception of veteran Sean Williams, who made 60 from 61 balls, flopped to be all out of 127.

Sediqullah Atal, fresh from a maiden ODI century on Thursday, top-scored with 52 as Afghanistan cruised to 131 for two in just 26.5 overs and completed a white-ball double after a Twenty20 series win.

It was the seventh ODI series triumph for Afghanistan over Zimbabwe with one drawn.

"It is wonderful to see youngsters like Allah coming into the team and making such a big impact," Shahidi told reporters.

"Allah is doing very well for the team and, hopefully, he can maintain this momentum and bowl well going forward."

Wreaking havoc with his off-break deliveries, Ghazanfar continued a memorable year in which he was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad that won the Indian Premier League.

Star leg spinner Rashid Khan also tormented the hosts, taking three for 38 as the fragility of the Zimbabwe batters was exposed again. They were all out for 54 two days ago.

Williams, whose 61-ball knock included three sixes and six fours, was among only three Zimbabweans to reach double figures.

The top Zimbabwe scorer departed when his reverse sweep shot off Khan was caught by 39-year-old Mohammed Nabi at first slip.

Atal and Abdul Malik put on 84 for the first wicket before both fell in the space of 10 balls, leaving Shahidi (20 not out) to seal victory with 139 balls to spare.

A brilliant catch at deep extra cover by Brian Bennett spelt the end for Atal.

Earlier, Malik got an inside edge to a Richard Ngarava delivery, which uprooted his leg stump.

The teams now move to southern city Bulawayo for a two-Test series, with the first starting on December 26.

Brief scores

Zimbabwe 127 in 30.1 overs (S.Williams 60; Allah Ghazanfar 5-33, Rashid Khan 3-38) v Afghanistan 131-2 in 26.5 overs (Sediqullah Atal 52, Abdul Malik 29, Hashmatullah Shahidi 20 not out)

Result: Afghanistan win by eight wickets

Series: Afghanistan win 2-0

Toss: Afghanistan