SHARJAH (SW): Elegant display of batting by young all-rounder Gulbadin Naib earned Afghanistan back the 10th slot on the International Cricket Council (ICC) ranking following a victory over Zimbabwe in Sharjah on Wednesday.
In this last One Day International (ODI) of the 5-match series, Afghanistan achieved a mammoth target of 249 in the last over of the game. Gulbadin scored impressive 82 not out to see Afghanistan through the win. Both Gulbadin and another young talent Rashid Khan’s 85 runs partnership for the 7th wicket that basically laid the foundation for this victory.
Earlier, Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat first. The tourists lost their first wicket in the third over when in-form Chibhabha’s pads hit the ball in front of the wicket and was declared lbw. Opener Moor piled-up partnership of 101 runs with Masakadza. Zimbabwe’s top order was impressive with Masakadza scoring 110. Their tail-end however, failed to leave an impact.
For Afghanistan, Amir Hamza was the top bowler with 3 wickets.
Pursuing this huge target, Afghanistan got-off a decent start with the top order chipping in with runs but no one actually capitalized on the good start. At one stage Afghanistan was only 146 for 6 wickets when Rashid Khan came to the crease to join Gulbadin. Both maintained the pace with singles and the odd boundaries.
Afghanistan needed 10 runs in the last over when Gulbadin first got a lucky four with an edge to the third man followed by a two and finally a massive six.
Afghanistan had lost the hard-earned 10th slot at the ICC ranking when it lost two out of four ODIs to Zimbabwe earlier this week. With this victory, Afghanistan has once again occupied this slot and has become the only non-full member of the ICC to sit on this position.
The victory was widely celebrated in Afghanistan.
ENDS
