Afghanistan trounced Zimbabwe by 8 wickets at the Harare Sports Club to go 2-0 up in the three-match ODI series on Monday, June 6. Ibrahim Zadran, a 20-year-old, crashed the hosts' party with a match-winning ton and celebrated his maiden international hundred with a 'Player of the Match' award.
Earlier in the match, the visiting captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and elected to field first. The Zimbabweans lost their opener, Regis Chakabva, for a duck, but his partner, Innocent Kaia, at the other end, went on to score a solid 63.
Captain Craig Ervine contributed with 32 while middle-order batter Ryan Burl remained not out on 51. The hosts were eventually bundled out for 228 in exactly 50 overs.
Afghanistan's Farid Malik picked up 3-56 while speedster Fazalhaq Farooqi and spin machines Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi picked up two wickets each.
The visitors suffered one tiny setback by losing opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the third over of the innings. Zadran and number 3 batter Rahmat Shah ensured that the Zimbabweans would have to wait 38 overs for another wicket. The duo combined forces to chart a 195-run stand, and it turned out to be Afghanistan's all-time second highest partnership in away ODIs.
Apart from Zadran's 120*, Shah himself scored a healthy 88 before falling just short of the finishing line.
The two teams will now face each other at the same venue on June 9 for the third ODI before the action gets shifted to the truncated form of the game.
Brief scores:
Zimbabwe - 228 (50 overs)
Innocent Kaia 63 (74), Ryan Burl 51* (61);
Farid Malik 3/56, Mohammad Nabi 2-31
Afghanistan - 229-2 (44.3 overs)
Ibrahim Zadran 120* (141), Rahmat Shah 88 (112)
Donald Tiripano 1/32, Blessing Muzarabani 1-42
Afghanistan won by 8 wickets.