ZIMBABWE would hope their 99-run win against Bangladesh on Saturday will boost their confidence today against Afghanistan, a team they haven’t beaten in ODIs in eight years.
Over their entire ODI cricket history, Afghanistan have a 20-10 record against Zimbabwe.
Afghanistan come into this tri-series in excellent ODI form, having won their last series 4-0 away in Ireland.
They also claimed a highly respectable drawn Test against Bangladesh last week, which should give some of their fringe performers positivity ahead of this tournament.
Afghanistan’s experienced batting line-up greatly complements their spin attack. Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi will no doubt have a huge role to play against Zimbabwe, while AM Ghazanfar is becoming a consistent performer.
Fazalhaq Farooqi is set to join Yamin Ahmadzai, who bowled his heart out in the one-off Test last week, as the new-ball pair.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran have established themselves as openers, while Sediqullah Atal and the rest of the middle-order have big knocks under their belt in recent times. Zimbabwe come into this game following a rousing win in the tri-series opener.
Craig Ervine and Brendan Taylor led with the bat like the veterans they are in a predominantly young team, joining forces with the scoreboard reading 24 for 3.
Taylor was nonchalant in his approach during a pressure situation, defusing it with a flurry of boundaries.
Ervine played the supporting role during their 150-run stand, before opening up towards the backend of the Zimbabwe innings.
The pacers Blessing Muzarabani and Brad Evans held their own despite Bangladesh starting off strongly.
They began picking up wickets, and eventually Wellington Masakadza and captain Sikandar Raza came into the game too, with Raza completing 100 wickets in ODIs.
Sediqullah Atal comes into this match on the back of an epic fourth-innings century that helped Afghanistan salvage a draw against Bangladesh.
He batted for more than eight hours, facing more than 300 deliveries.
Defending and leaving the ball had been the only things on his mind in that innings; now he has to revert to type, and show the white-ball shots and smarts he is amply equipped with. Ervine held Zimbabwe together with a 93 against Bangladesh, attacking their spinners with a wide range of shots including powerful reverse-sweeps. He will hope to bring the same skills and awareness to his contest against Afghanistan’s spinners today.
After the first match, Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza said the Abu Dhabi pitch had had “something for everyone”.
While the fast bowlers found a bit of movement and the spinners extracted slow turn, batting was largely straightforward. Winning the toss can be a significant advantage at the Zayed Stadium: the team batting first has won seven of the last eight ODIs played here.
The weather is expected to be hot and humid. Meanwhile, captain Sikandar Raza has praised his team for grinding it out in the ODI cricket tri-series opener.
“We were three down in the first ten overs,” Raza said, “It was tough at that time. But credit to Craig Ervine, credit to BT (Brendan Taylor), the way they held the innings together, and then credit to Wellington and Newman, the way they finished the game.
“I don’t think it was an easy win. If you look at Bangladesh, when they came out to bat as well, Tanzid [Hasan] had a great start.
“He was running away with the game as well. They were maybe 96 for 2 [91 for 3] after 15 overs.
“They were way ahead of the game at that point, so I wouldn’t say it was an easy game, but I think the way we fought in batting and bowling certainly made it slightly easier than it should have been.
“There is no easy game, there is no easy win. There was a time when Bangladesh probably beat us out of eight games maybe six times, and I’m sure they would say the same thing that it wasn’t easy.
“So the fact that we have won three out of the last four ODIs does not mean it’s easy. Brother, it’s international cricket, no win comes easy, and I would not disrespect Bangladesh or for that matter any other country by calling it an easy win.
“We fought well, we understood the conditions well, we adapt well, and I think that’s the reason why we won the game.”
Raza praised the sporting nature of the Abu Dhabi pitch, as it offered something for each skillset.
“If you have played enough cricket here and if you look at the data, you will know that Abu Dhabi offers something for everyone,” Raza said.— cricinfo.
