Talking Points: Afghanistan rise in CWCSL table, Nabi spins a web and more

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After winning the toss, Zimbabwe opted to bowl first and handed debut caps to Tanaka Chivanga and Innocent Kaia. The decision to bowl first paid immediate dividends with the quicks wickets of the Afghanistan openers, before Hasmatullah and Rahmat came to the rescue of the visitors.

Chasing 277, Zimbabwe lost Regis Chakbva early in the chase, but Innocent Kaia and skipper Craig Ervine kept the chase under control. However, they lost wickets in the middle overs and had half their side back in the hut within the 32nd over.

Sikandar Raza stood tall from one end and continued to take Zimbabwe closer to the total. But Rashid Khan dismissed Raza at the right time to end Zimbabwe’s hopes of a win. Afghanistan bowlers then ran through Zimbabwe’s tail and restricted them to 216 in 50 overs to win the first ODI by 60 runs.

Here are the Talking Points from the game:

Mohammad Nabi spins a web

Off-spinner Mohammad Nabi was in the mood in Harare, bamboozling the Zimbabwe batters in his brilliant spell that ended with figures of 4/34. On a surface where Zimbabwe spinners failed to pick wickets, Nabi led the Afghanistan attack and dismantled the opposition.

His first scalp was Wesely Madhevere, who gave a simple return catch to Rabi for 11. Set batter Innocent Kaia was then done by the flight as Nabi tossed up the delivery to trap him in front of the stumps 39.

Nabi then dismissed Milton Shuba on 5 before dismissing Ryan Burl on 13 in his final over.

Hashmatullah, Rahmat make Zimbabwe bowlers toil in middle overs

Afghanistan got off to a shaky start but skipper Hasmatullah Shahidi (88) and Rahmat Saha (96) stitched up a 181-run partnership for the third wicket. The batters laid the foundation for flourish in the end, batting sensibly from the start. They rotated the strike continuously and once set, they soon started finding the boundaries. Rahmat in 36th over brought up his half-century and Hashmatullah followed it up with his half-century in the very next over.

The batters then switched gears and started attacking; Rahmat immediately after his fifty collected a six and a four in Chivanga’s over. Hashmatullah then hit a flurry of boundaries and Afghanistan reached the 200 mark in the 43rd over.

The batters continued to collect runs quickly but lost their wickets to Muzarbani, falling short of their individual centuries.

Muzarbani delivers at crucial times for Zimbabwe

Pacer Blessing Muzarbani was the pick of the bowlers for Zimbabwe as he finished with the bowling figures of 4 for 52.

Muzarbani first dismissed opener Ibrahim Zadran with the new ball before scalping Rahmat Shah on 94 to end the excellent third-wicket partnership of 181 runs. He followed it up with another wicket by getting another set batter Hasmatullah Shahidi on 88 and then piled more pressure on Afghanistan by picking up the important wicket of Mohamad Nabi on 10.

Rashid continues his fine form

Three quick wickets of Rahmat Shah, Hamatullah Shahidi and Mohammad Nabi in the final overs put Afgnaistan under pressure. However, Rashid Khan came to the rescue and played a fiery knock of 39 runs in 17 balls. He came out to bat in the 47th over and smashed two sixes and four boundaries to help Afghanistan finish at 276/5.

With the ball in hand, Rashid kept the batters in check as he took two wickets and conceded only 39 runs in his spell. He first took the crucial wicket of Sikander Raza on 67, who was the highest scorer for Zimbabwe. In his final over, Rashid dismissed Donald Tripano on 15.