The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
That'll be all from Sportskeeda's live coverage of the first ODI between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan. It was a comprehensive victory for the visitors but Zimbabwe will not go down without a fight as they will look to come back strongly in the next fixture. Till then, you can enjoy the live coverage of all the other cricketing actions going around the world, here on Sportskeeda. This is Raghav signing off alongside Soorya and Pradeep.
Player of the Match, Rahmat Shah: The wicket was not easy for batting, especially after losing a couple of early wickets. Our plan was to bat till the 35 overs and then change gears. Our batting depth allowed us to play more freely from there.
Hashmatullah Shahidi (Captain, Afghanistan): It was a fantastic performance by the boys, it was tough going in the morning as the ball was seaming for them. That was the partnership that set the platform for us, there was pressure, we handled it well and took the responsibility. We will try to sort out the over rate from the next two games but the 10 points is what we were looking for, the next two games are important for us too, we are looking to bag the remaining 20 points as well.
Craig Ervine (Captain, Zimbabwe): Look I thought, we started extremely well and Rahmat and Shahidi set the platform for them to reap the rewards towards the end of the inning. We were excellent in patches, the other patches we struggled, we didn't have a full game and something that we will focus in our next game, come out victorious. With the bat, we had a good partnership up front but we lost wickets at regular intervals and looking at the way Afghanistan batted, set the platform for them to score those runs at the backend, unfortunately we had our tail batting at the end.
Zimbabwe- 216 all out in 50 overs (Sikander Raza 67 off 78 balls, Mohammad Nabi 4/34 in 10 overs) lose to Afghanistan - 276/5 in 50 overs (Rahmat Shah 94 off 120 balls, Blessing Muzarabani 4/52 in 9 overs) by 60 runs.
It was an absolute masterclass in swing bowling led by Fazalhaq Farooqi and Fareed Ahmad Malik. Both left-armers let it off a string and with all due respect to the Zimbabweans, they were lucky that they lost just the lone wicket in the first 10 overs. With innumerable plays and misses and quite a few referrals as well, both seamers would have rued their luck during that phase, even as skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi attacked with at least two, if not three catchers in the cordon.
Debutant Innocent Kaia was cramping up, but he remained solid thereafter, even as Craig Ervine looked to up the ante with a few positive strokes. The skipper's departure came at the wrong juncture though, as the hosts failed to establish a firm griphold over the chase.
Mohammad Nabi came on to trigger a collapse and with Rashid Khan keeping it tight from the other end, the veteran off-spinner cut the Zimbabwean middle-order to size. Wickets fell at regular intervals as Nabi ended up with a four-fer, sending down his 10 overs at a stretch. Sikandar Raza took his time initially before accelerating when the need arose, but the asking rate continued to escalate beyond the hosts' reach.
The scoreboard pressure eventually got to Raza as he played one shot too many, Rashid Khan deservingly finished off with a couple of wickets while the seamers took care of the tail without any hesitation. It was a pretty comfortable win for the visitors towards the end and they will look to carry this momentum to the remainder of the series.
That'll be all. Afghanistan have won the match with 60 runs.
50
overs
216/10score
0
0
0
0
0
W
runs
Tendai Chatara*
8(17)
Tanaka Chivanga
0(5)
Fazalhaq Farooqi
2/41
49.6 Fazalhaq Farooqi to Tendai Chatara, OUT! GUIDES IT STRAIGHT DOWN TO THIRD-MAN FIELDER'S THROAT! Zimbabwe are eventually bundled out as Afghanistan go 1-0 up in the three match ODI series. Short delivery on the outside off, Chatara looking to help that one over third-man fence but it didn't have enough elevation as Nabi comes forward and pouches it. Fist bumps everywhere in the Afghanistan dressing room, well deserved win.
Tendai Chatara c Mohammad Nabi b Fazalhaq Farooqi 8 (17b 1x4 0x6)
49.5 Fazalhaq Farooqi to Tendai Chatara, searing yorker, right up in the blockhole, Chatara does well to dig it out, rolls back to the bowler. Final ball coming up!
49.4 Fazalhaq Farooqi to Tendai Chatara, OH! Short and tailed into Chatara who swivels and evades the bouncer, through to the keeper.
Video
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R Khan
C Ervine
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Harare Sports Club
Tendai Chatara
*
Fazalhaq Farooqi
