(Last Updated on October 23, 2015 by Editor)
ZIMBABWE – Hello and welcome to CricketCountry’s live cricket blog of the fourth One-Day International (ODI) match between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan on Thursday. The match will be played at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. Winning two of the three matches already played, Zimbabwe currently is dominating the series while Afghanistan need to win the next match anyway to stay relevant in the contest. Though the home side has won the last match, but the victory was not at all easy which reflects the fact that Afghanistan team has what it takes to come victorious against the hosts. A crucial match as both the teams has equal strengths to beat the other in the game of cricket. However, Zimbabwe has the home advantage as well as the mental boost after the last win and the series lead currently. Catch live cricket scoreboard of Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan 4th ODI at Bulawayo.
A levelled series saw a confident start from the Afghan side in the third ODI match as the opener Mohammad Shahzad started hitting the ball hard from the very first over. He added a run-a-ball 30 while other opener Noor Ali Zadran held the innings together in order to make partnerships. After Shahzad’s departure, Mohammad Nabi took the crease and added 42 runs. Afghanistan lost 3 successive wickets afterwards as N Zardan left scoring 56, and Nawroz Mangal and skipper Asghar Stanikzai left for duck. The Afghanistan innings reached the total of 223-9 after their 50 overs with a power hitting from tail-enders Dawlat Zadran and Shafiqullah. Chasing the target of 224, Zimbabwe looked relaxed in the start but the problems started rising after Chamu Chibhabha was dismissed for a controversial handling the ball charge. Zimbabwe got to the total, thanks to the contributions from opener Richmond Mutumbami ( 74 off 92) and skipper Elton Chigumbura ( 49 off 62). Prior to the third ODI, the series was levelled by both the teams as the host and the visiting teams had clinched the victory for the first and the second ODI respectively.
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Afghanistan 185/7 in Overs 46.4; BATTING: Mirwais Ashraf 0(7), Rashid Khan 9(11). And Rashid Khan finishes with a sixer. Afghanistan win the contest. An amazing match saw the Afghanistan team come out victorious. The winning team dominated the match from the very first innings. They restricted the home-team within 200 and chased down the runs really easy. The momentum seemed to shift to Zimbabwe’s side after 40 overs but then Rashid Khan picked up the winning runs. Mohammad Shahzad showed his potential in batting while Dawlat Zadran was brilliant with the ball.
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Afghanistan 178/7 in Overs 45; BATTING: Mirwais Ashraf 0(5), Rashid Khan 3(7). An easy victory seems difficult now as Afghanistan is constantly losing wickets. 3 crucial dismissals within just 5 overs. Suddenly the game has turned interesting for Zimbabwe.
OUT! Asghar Stanikzai b Williams 32 (60)
OUT! Shafiqullah c Ervine b Williams 4 (6)
OUT! Samiullah Shenwari c Ervine b Masakadza 10 (30)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Afghanistan 167/4 in Overs 40; BATTING: Samiullah Shenwari 7(22), Asghar Stanikzai 30(52). Afghanistan fully dominating the match. They have both wickets and balls in their hand. Target seems really easy to get now.
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Afghanistan 148/4 in Overs 35; BATTING: Samiullah Shenwari 3(12), Asghar Stanikzai 16(38). The skipper is hitting some good boundaries. Tinashe Panyangara is reverse swinging the ball. Zimbabwe seeks another wicket.
OUT! Nawroz Mangal c Ervine b Chisoro 6 (17)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Afghanistan 133/2 in Overs 30; BATTING: Nawroz Mangal 5(14), Asghar Stanikzai 7(16). The run-rate has decreased. Afghanistan have ample wickets in their hand.
OUT! Mohammad Shahzad c Sikandar Raza b Chisoro 80 (81)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Afghanistan 119/2 in Overs 25; BATTING: Nawroz Mangal 0(3), Mohammad Shahzad 80(78). Shahzad’s on fire, it’s raining fours and Sixes in Bulawayo.
OUT! Mohammad Nabi c Masakadza b Jongwe 12 (16)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Afghanistan 78/1 in Overs 20; BATTING: Mohammad Nabi 1(7), Mohammad Shahzad 33(44). Zimbabwe finally got the breakthrough they wanted. N Zadran sent back for 23. Meanwhile Shahzad completed his 1000 ODI runs.
OUT! Noor Ali Zadran c Chigumbura b Chisoro 23 (53)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Afghanistan 57/0 in Overs 15; BATTING: Noor Ali Zadran 20(46), Mohammad Shahzad 33(44). Boundaries coming in every over. Afghanistan in full control of the game currently. Victory is slipping away from Zimbabwe.
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Afghanistan 33/0 in Overs 10; BATTING: Noor Ali Zadran 10(28), Mohammad Shahzad 20(32). Some classy shots coming from the Afghan openers. Treat for the eyes. Zimbabwe needs early breakthroughs to stay in contest.
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Afghanistan 15/0 in Overs 5; BATTING: Noor Ali Zadran 5(21), Mohammad Shahzad 11(15). Second innings has started and the Afghanistan openers don’t intend to go for big hits. They need to settle down first and that is what they are doing.
SECOND INNINGS STARTS
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Zimbabwe 184/8 in Overs 45; BATTING: Tinashe Panyangara 0(0), Tendai Chisoro 1(2). First innings ends with 184/8 for Zimbabwe. Sikandar Raza played the most crucial knock for the team scoring 86 but couldn’t stay unbeaten. Target for Afghanistan, who did exceptionally well with the ball, is 185.
OUT! Sikandar Raza c Samiullah Shenwari b Dawlat Zadran 86 (113)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Zimbabwe 150/7 in Overs 45; BATTING: Sikandar Raza 63(94), Tendai Chisoro 1(2). Another wicket for Afghanistan. Zimbabwe goes past 150.
OUT! Luke Jongwe c Samiullah Shenwari b Mohammad Nabi 22 (38)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Zimbabwe 128/6 in Overs 40; BATTING: Sikandar Raza 55(80), Luke Jongwe 10(24). Sikandar Raza the first player to score 50 today. Zimbabwe look in a better position.
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Zimbabwe 101/6 in Overs 35; BATTING: Sikandar Raza 33(57), Luke Jongwe 5(17). 100 comes up for Zimbabwe.
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Zimbabwe 90/6 in Overs 30; BATTING: Sikandar Raza 25(43), Luke Jongwe 2(6). After the fall of two more wickets, Zimbabwe batsmen have again decided to settle for singles to keep the scoreboard going.
OUT! Tinotenda Mutombodzi st b Rashid Khan 4 (9)
OUT! Elton Chigumbura run out 15 (46)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Zimbabwe 69/4 in Overs 25; BATTING: Elton Chigumbura 14(45) , Sikandar Raza 11(24). A couple of boundaries came after a good span of time. The zimbabwe batsmen are getting back the composure. Some more to come.
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Zimbabwe 50/4 in Overs 20; BATTING: Elton Chigumbura 6(29) , Sikandar Raza 1(12). After losing some early wickets, Zimbabwe team has slowed down to build up a partnership. 50 comes up for Zimbabwe. More grounded shots are seen.
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Zimbabwe 45/4 in Overs 15; BATTING: Elton Chigumbura 0(1) , Sikandar Raza 0(0). Afghanistan determined to win this game and it is prominent from their attitude. Good display of bowling action by Afghan bowlers.
OUT! Chamu Chibhabha lbw b Rashid Khan 26 (32)
OUT! Sean Williams c Nawroz Mangal b Amir Hamza 11 (22)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Zimbabwe 28/2 in Overs 10; BATTING: Chamu Chibhabha 19(23), Sean Williams 2(10). Afghanistan’s Dawlat Zadran picks up two crucial wickets disturbing the balance of Zimbabwe top order totally. Chibhabha needs to stay in the crease for long. Commendable bowling from Dawlat as he gets Mutumbami out for lbw. The ball hits the front and back pad. Ervine edges and Afghan keeper Mohammad Shehzad makes no mistake.
OUT! Craig Ervine c †Mohammad Shahzad b Dawlat Zadran 1 (9)
OUT! Richmond Mutumbami lbw b Dawlat Zadran 5 (18)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE | Zimbabwe 12/0 in Overs 5; BATTING: Chamu Chibhabha 5(19), Richmond Mutumbami 7(12). First five overs have been played, batsmen are taking their time to settle down.
TEAMS:
Zimbabwe: Chamu Chibhabha, Richmond Mutumbami, Craig Ervine, Sean Williams, Elton Chigumbura, Sikandar Raza, Tinotenda Mutombodzi, Tendai Chisoro, Luke Jongwe, Wellington Masakadza, Tinashe Panyangara
Afghanistan: Noor Ali Zadran, Mohammad Shahzad, Mohammad Nabi, Nawroz Mangal, Asghar Stanikzai, Samiullah Shenwari, Shafiqullah, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Mirwais Ashraf, Amir Hamza
TOSS: Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat first
Squads:
Zimbabwe: Elton Chigumbura (c), Brian Chari, Chamu Chibhabha, Tendai Chisoro, Craig Ervine, Luke Jongwe, Neville Madziva, Wellington Masakadza, Tinotenda Mutombodzi, Richmond Mutumbami (wk), Taurai Muzarabani, John Nyumbu, Tinashe Panyangara, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams.
Afghanistan: Asghar Stanikzai (c), Aftab Alam, Amir Hamza, Dawlat Zadran, Fareed Ahmad, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Mirwais Ashraf, Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Najibullah Zadran, Nawroz Mangal, Noor Ali Zadran, Samiullah Shenwari, Shafiqullah, Shapoor Zadran.