Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan, 1st ODI: Match Preview, Head to Head, Playing XI and Broadcast Details

Zimbabwe will hosts Afghanistan for a bilateral series that includes three ODIs followed by as many T20Is, starting with the ODIs at the Harare Sports Club. It has been quite a while since the hosts played an ODI match (January 2022) and the same holds true for the visitors as well, who last played in February 2022.

Zimbabwe are coming off a defeat against Namibia in their previous series. Leading the T20I series 2-1 initially, they lost the remaining fixtures and lost the series by 2-3. Their game saw a drastic decline in the absence of skipper Craig Ervine in the last match. But now that they have a complete squad available, Zimbabwe will look to bounce back stronger.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, gave a tough fight in their series against Bangladesh, but couldn’t succeed to clinch the series. They lost the first two ODIs of the three-match series, before winning the final match, losing the series 2-1. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Fazalhaq Farooqi have been the standout performers in the past few games, and now that Rashid Khan is backed with a massive IPL victory, a lot will be expected from the all-rounder.

In the last five matches between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan, the latter hold an upper hand as they’ve won three of the fixtures. Afghanistan faced Zimbabwe Select XI in a warm-up game ahead of the ODI series, on June 2 (Thursday) and won the match by a big margin of 68 runs. They posted a target of 273 runs after electing to bat and successfully defended the total by dishing out the opponents for 204 runs.

Pitch Conditions

The pitch at the Harare Sports Club is expected to be give a high-scoring contest, however, the surface will provide plenty of opportunities for the bowlers. As the average first-innings score at the venue in 137 ODIs is 233, the captain who wins the toss would want to bat first and aim to defend the total.

Playing Combinations for ZIM vs AFG

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe have defeated the visitors 10 times earlier, and would look to keep up with their performance. Their defeat from the previous series would hurt them as it was a close call, but the team would look forward to put up an all-round performance to keep up with Afghanistan’s antics.

Predicted Playing XI: Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Dion Myers, Regis Chakabva (wk), Craig Ervine (c), Wessley Madhevere, Sikandar Raza, Ryan Burl, Ainsley Ndlovu, Blessing Muzarabani, Tendai Chatara, Luke Jongwe

Afghanistan

The visitors have got a powerful top order. Skipper Shahidi will be responsible to lead the team from the front and also make his bat talk. All-rounder Rashid Khan would want to produce equally amazing tricks with the bat as he does with the ball.

Predicted Playing XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Yamin Ahmadzai, Fazalhaq Farooqi

ZIM vs AFG Head to Head

Played – 25 | Zimbabwe – 10 | Afghanistan – 15

ZIM vs AFG Broadcast Details

Match Timings – 12:45 PM IST

Live Streaming – FanCode