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Sediqullah Atal's blitzkrieg century and top bowling performance from AM Ghazanfar and Naveed Zadran helped Afghanistan clinch a massive 232 runs over Zimbabwe in the second match of the ODI series at the Harare Sports Club on Thursday.
After the first match of the series ended in no result due to incessant rain, Afghanistan took a 1-0 lead in the series on Thursday. Wining the toss, Zimbabwe decided to bowl first against Afghanistan in Harare. Openers Sediqullah Atal (104 runs from 128 balls, 8 fours and 4 sixes) and Abdul Malik (84 runs from 101 balls, 11 fours and 1 six) gave a fiery start to Afghanistan after they cemented a 191-run partnership. Zimbabwe displayed a sloppy performance with the ball in the first inning as they failed to take quick breakthroughs. Newman Nyamhuri made the first breakthrough of the game when he got rid of Malik in the 35th over. A few overs later, Nyamhuri managed to remove Sediqullah from the crease. However, it was too late for the hosts since the damage was already done. Following the dismissal of the Afghan openers, skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (29* runs from 30 balls, 4 fours) and Mohammad Nabi (18 runs from 16 balls, 1 six) added a few crucial runs on the board and propelled the visitors to 286/6 in the first inning. Newman Nyamhuri led the Zimbabwe bowling attack as he picked up three wickets in his 10-over spell. Trevor Gwandu also bagged two wickets. During the run chase, Zimbabwe batters didn't get the chance to settle as the Afghan bowlers managed to get early wickets in the second inning. Sean Williams (16 runs from 18 balls, 2 fours) and Sikandar Raza (19* runs from 32 balls, 3 fours) were the only top run-getters for the hosts. AM Ghazanfar and Naveed Zadran led the Afghanistan bowling attack with their three-wicket hauls in their respective spells and restricted Zimbabwe to 54 with 32 overs remaining and clinched a 232-run win. Fazalhaq Farooqi picked up two wickets in his six-over spell. Sediqullah Atal was named the 'Player of the Match' after his stupendous 104-run knock. Brief score: Afghanistan 286/6 (Sediqullah Atal 104, Abdul Malik 84; Newman Nyamhuri 3/53) beat Zimbabwe 54 (Sikandar Raza 19*, Sean Williams 16; Naveed Zadran 3/13). (ANI)
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