Afghanistan batsman Usman Ghani prays after reaching his century against Zimbabwe in the second ODI at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo yesterday. (AFP)
Opener Sikandar Raza blasted his first one-day international century as Zimbabwe trounced Afghanistan by eight wickets in the second ODI at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo yesterday.
Pakistan-born Raza smashed 141 from 133 balls and put on an opening stand of 224, the highest partnership in Zimbabwean limited-overs cricket, alongside Hamilton Masakadza (93).
Having been put in to bat, Afghanistan ended their 50 overs on 256 for seven, with 17-year-old Usman Ghani scoring his first ODI century as he struck 118 from 143 balls.
But Zimbabwe lost just two wickets as they reached their target with 39 balls to spare to take a 2-0 lead in the four match series after Friday’s six-wicket victory.
For the second match in a row, Zimbabwe opted to field but were set up a slightly difficult target of 257 compared to the first ODI.
With no Vusi Sibanda, Raza opened the batting with Masakadza and set the tone of the innings with a boundary off the first ball of the second over. He bettered it in the third over with consecutive fours of Shapoor Zadran’s first two deliveries before ramping the scoring rate from the ninth over onwards.
Zimbabwe had moved to 42 from the first eight but Raza smashed Dawlat Zadran for two sixes and a four in an over that leaked 21 runs. He slowed down a touch thereafter, reaching his half-century in 54 balls.
Raza scored the next fifty off 45 balls to reach his maiden century in the 31st over. Masakadza, meanwhile, had also patiently added 83 runs off 93 balls to help the team motor to 192 without loss.
Two boundaries in the next over from Raza took Zimbabwe past 200—the first double-century opening-stand for Zimbabwe. By the time Masakadza was dismissed, seven short of his century, the stand had swelled to 224—the best for any wicket for Zimbabwe.
The home side continued to saunter and overhauled the target with more than six overs to spare, the only blip being the loss of Raza a ball before the win was achieved.
Earlier, Ghani had single-handedly shored up Afghanistan’s innings with a mature innings. He received repeated support from the other batsmen but none lasted long enough with him to threaten Zimbabwe.
Take out Ghani’s 118 off 143 deliveries —the joint equal for the highest score by an Afghanistan batsman—and the highest individual score was Gulbadin Naib’s 23. Raza was successful with the ball too, picking up two crucial wickets in his five-over spell.
The third one-dayer will be played at the same venue tomorrow.
Brief scores
Afghanistan 256-7 in 50 overs (Usman Ghani 118; Sikandar Raza 2-25) lost to Zimbabwe 257-2 in 43.3 overs (Sikandar Raza 141, H Masakadza 93) by 8 wickets