Twitter Reactions: Afghanistan cruise past Zimbabwe to record comfortable victory in series opener

Afghanistan have won the first game of the three-match ODI series by 60 runs as Mohammad Nabi ran through the Zimbabwe batting order with a four-wicket haul at the Harare Sports Club. The hosts were always behind in the game in terms of their scoring rate and they had too much to cover in the back end which did not help as well.

Earlier in the game, Zimbabwe opted to bowl first after winning the toss and Blessing Muzarabani managed to remove Ibrahim Zadran early for just five. Rahmanullah Gurbaz followed him soon for a 31-ball 17 with the scoreboard reading 38/2. The onus was on Rahmat Shah and skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi to stitch a good partnership and the duo responded quite well with a 181-run partnership for the third wicket.

While Shah scored 94 off 120 balls which included seven fours and three sixes, Shahidi was dismissed after a well made 104-ball 88 that included 13 fours. The pair set it up for a final flourish from the middle order, and Rashid Khan was quite impressive in the slog overs with the bat. The leg-spinner remained unbeaten on 39 off 17 balls with four fours and two sixes as Afghanistan posted a good total of 276/5 in 50 overs.

Mohammad Nabi broke the backbone of Zimbabwe’s run chase

Blessing Muzarabani was the pick of the bowlers for Zimbabwe with figures of 4/52 in his nine-over spell. In reply, Zimbabwe lost Regis Chakabva early for one while Innocent Kaia (39) and skipper Craig Ervine (30) stuck together with a handy partnership for the second wicket. Once the duo were gone, it was tough for the hosts to recover and Wessley Madhevere perished soon as well. Sikandar Raza provided glimpses of hope with a 78-ball 67 which included six fours and a six.

However, he had too much to do on his own as wickets kept falling around him regularly and it meant that Afghanistan had just the final rites to do in the game. At the end, Zimbabwe were all out for 216 in their 50 overs to hand a relatively easy win for the visitors. Mohammad Nabi was the pick of the bowlers as he finished with 4/34 in his 10 overs while Rashid Khan was impressive as well, recording figures of 2/39 in his 10 overs.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to Afghanistan’s victory: