Hashmatullah Shahidi who led Afghanistan to emerge victorious in the two-match test series against Zimbabwe congrats entire team for the notable victory.
During the Afghanistan tour of Zimbabwe 2024-25, a total of three T20Is, 3 ODIs and a couple of tests have been scheduled to be played between 11 December 2024 and 6 January 2025.
Afghanistan won both the ODI and T20I series and headed for the two-match test series. Right after the first test ended as a draw, the second match emerged as the series decider.
In the second test, after scoring 157 in the first inning, Afghanistan managed to contain Zimbabwe for 243 runs. With Rahmat and Ismat Alam’s centuries, Afghan posted 363 runs in their second innings and set 277 runs as the target for the hosts.
With Rashid Khan’s seven-wicket haul, the Afghan won the game by 72 runs. Right after the first victory of the new year, Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi praises the entire team.
During the post-match presentation, Hashmatullah Shahidi said “First of all, congrats to the entire team, very happy with the way we performed. Coming back after a difficult first day was excellent, but mentally this will make us a lot more stronger. Performances from Rahmat, Ismat and Rashid were outstanding.
Rahmat is a senior player, one of the best innings from him when I’m around, Ismat came into the series with runs at the domestic level and the amount of maturity he showed was outstanding, especially after getting dismissed for a duck in the first innings. His father has been a founding member of Afghan cricket, so for the son to score a hundred on debut was satisfying.
We played good cricket throughout the series, the first innings (here) was tough, but we played some fighting cricket from there on, we’ll look to move forward, we’ve the talent to beat every side in every format, we’ll believe in ourselves going forward.
A lot of our guys will be playing franchise cricket, but our next big challenge is the Champions Trophy, it’s a big tournament for us and we’re looking forward to it. We’ll have a camp before the start of that tournament”.
Speaking of the match, Zimbabwe won the toss and opted to bowl first where Abdul Malik and Riaz Hassan opened the batting inning. The duo failed to lay a strong foundation as Riaz Hassan lost his wicket in an unexpected run-out dismissal.
Soon after Riaz Hassan’s dismissal, Abdul Malik lost his wicket to Newman Nyamhuri after scoring 17 runs. Without much contribution from the batters, Afghanistan scored only 157 runs with Rashid Khan’s 25 remained the team’s highest individual score.
In the first inning, Newman Nyamhuri and Raza bagged three wickets each while Muzarabani bagged a couple of wickets with Ngarava bagging a wicket.
In Zimbabwe’s batting inning, after losing their first four wickets for 41, Raza and Craig Ervine made a 71-run stand. While the duo looked promising, Zia-ur-Rehman broke the partnership by dismissing Raza for 61.
Following the dismissal, Brian Bennett and Newman Nyamhuri fell to Rashid Khan’s trap while the host’s score slipped to 147 for 7 wickets. Sean Williams on joining hands with Craig Ervine added 73 runs for the eighth wicket and moved the score to 220.
With Craig Ervine’s struggling 75, Zimbabwe scored 243 runs after losing 10 wickets. In the second inning, after losing their first six wickets for 136, Afghanistan made a bounce-back by adding 132 runs for the seventh wicket.
Muzarabani broke the 100-plus runs stand by dismissing Rahmat for 139 runs while Ismat Alam walked back to the pavilion after scoring his maiden test hundred in his maiden test appearance.
With Rashid Khan’s 23, Afghanistan scored 363 runs in their second inning. In the second inning, Muzarabani ended his innings with six wickets haul while Ngarava bagged three wickets with Raza bagging a wicket.
On the other hand, Zimbabwe in the second inning struggled to build a partnership as spin wizard Rashid Khan shattered the host’s batting lineup. Rashid Khan bagged a whooping seven wickets in the second inning and led Afghanistan to win the game by 72 runs.
