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Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi on Thursday accepted that his side 'outclassed Zimbabwe in all departments' in the second ODI match of the series.
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. Speaking at the post-match presentation, Shahidi said that he was impressed with the way the Afghani openers batted. The skipper added that they gave their 100 per cent in the match and performed well. "Very impressed with the way the openers batted. The credit goes to them. We outclassed them in all departments. [286] When I was also batting, the wicket was a bit tricky. I thought it was enough runs, but we had to work hard for the win. We gave our 100% and we did well. Our team performance is going up day by day. Everyone takes responsibility and everyone knows their roles. We want to carry on with this performance. We have in mind that we will play Champions so we want to be prepared for that. [On the win] We are felling very proud and happy," Shahidi was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying. Recapping the match, Zimbabwe won the toss and 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. 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. Zimbabwe displayed a sloppy performance with the ball in the first inning as they failed to take quick breakthroughs. Newman Nyamhuri led the Zimbabwe bowling attack as he picked up three wickets in his 10-over spell. 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. 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. (ANI)
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