Taylor century headlines series-levelling Zimbabwe win

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A smashing effort with the bat, fronted by Brendan Taylor and Sikandar Raza, plus a solid bowling effort led by Tendai Chatara and Graeme Cremer, helped Zimbabwe trump Afghanistan by a whopping 154 runs in the second of five One-Day Internationals in Sharjah on Sunday 11 February.

Batting first, Zimbabwe put themselves in command with Taylor (125) and Raza (92) contributing a 155-run partnership for the fourth wicket, guiding them to 333/5. Afghanistan, with a mountain to climb, slipped to 36/5 before a mini-revival saw them reach 179 in 30.1 overs. Chatara was the star of the show with the ball, picking up three of the first four wickets to fall on his way to 3/24 in eight overs, while Cremer then took over to finish with 4/41.

Amazingly, the game ended with the exact same team scores and, therefore, result with the teams swapped: In the first game, Afghanistan had scored 333/5 and then bowled Zimbabwe out for 179 for a 154-run win.

After Cremer won the toss and opted to bat, the Zimbabwe batsmen, spearheaded by Taylor and Raza, slammed 26 fours and 14 sixes as they exploited the short boundaries.

Mujeeb Zadran, the 16-year-old spinner, opened the bowling again and struck early as Solomon Mire was trapped in front for nine in the third over. But it started to get away from Afghanistan after that as Hamilton Masakadza and Taylor, with a combined experience of 355 ODIs before this game, got into their stride.

Together, they added 85 runs for the second wicket to take Zimbabwe to 95 before a terrible mix-up, which ended with the batsmen standing mid-pitch, which brought about the departure of Masakadza after a 54-ball 48, which included five fours and two sixes.

Craig Ervine took his time, but Taylor was in his stride by then. He scored 33 of the 49-run stand with Ervine, who nicked off to Rashid Khan after a 30-ball 14, before upping the ante with Raza, as the two found the fence with some ease.

By the end of the 40th over, the total had motored along to 226/3, with Taylor on 96 and Raza on 49. There were a couple of quiet overs as Rashid and Mujeeb kept things tight, but once he got to his century with a drive down to long-on off Rashid, Taylor opened up even more. A six over mid-wicket off Rashid was followed by a flick for four and a straight six off the bowling of Dawlat Zadran. Zimbabwe had 279 on the board from 46 overs before the Afghans finally saw the back of Taylor, which came about when he got down and across to scoop a googly from Rashid, but missed it altogether.

The former Zimbabwe captain fell for 125 off 121 balls, which included five fours and eight sixes, while his partnership with Raza was worth 155 runs in 19.2 overs.

With Malcolm Waller walking out to join Raza, it didn’t get any better for Afghanistan, as Naib bowled a ten-ball over – three no-balls and a wide – as the scoreboard rattled along and reached 300 with 18 balls still to be bowled.

Raza looked good for his fourth ODI century but couldn’t quite counter a slower delivery outside off stump from Naib in the penultimate over of the innings, spooning a catch to Ihsanullah at cover to depart with a 74-ball 92, which included nine fours and four sixes. A couple more fours – one from Waller and one from Ryan Burl – and Afghanistan were left chasing a target that was pretty huge even when taking the dimensions of the ground into the consideration.

By the 11th over of the Afghanistan innings, the result became a foregone conclusion, with the scoreboard reading 36/5.

Chatara struck first, having Ihsanullah caught at mid-on, and after Brian Vitori had won the battle of the comeback men by sending Shahzad back for a 20-ball 15, Chatara struck twice in the same over, first getting Asghar Stanikzai, the captain, to nick one behind to Taylor and then having Nasir Jamal caught by Burl at short cover.

Floundering at 29/4, it soon became 36/5 when Najibullah Zadran miscued a slower delivery from Blessing Muzarabani to get caught in the covers.

There was a mini fightback, scripted by Rahmat Shah, whose century had headlined Afghanistan’s win in the first ODI, and Mohammad Nabi. Together, they took the total to 89 before Cremer's double-strike. Nabi, who hit three fours and two sixes in a 28-ball 31, missed the turn to be bowled, and Naib’s poor match ended first ball when he was lbw to a googly.

Shah hung around till close to the end before becoming ninth man out for a 61-ball 43, but Dawlat swung his bat around, smashing two fours and six sixes in an unbeaten 29-ball 47. That, however, only served to entertain the crowd and delay the inevitable.

The third match of the series will be played at the same venue on Tuesday 13 February.