Rahmat Shah hit a career best 114 while leg-spin wizard Rashid Khan took four wickets as Afghanistan trounced Zimbabwe by 154 runs in the first One-day International on Friday in a huge boost ahead of next month’s World Cup qualifiers.
Rahmat smashed his runs off just 110 balls with eight boundaries and four sixes as Afghanistan piled up 333/5 off 50 overs. Najibullah Zadran clobbered an undefeated 81 off just 51 balls with five boundaries and five towering sixes. Opener Ihsanullah hit a confident half century.
Zimbabwe were then dismissed for just 179 in the 35th over with leg-spinner Rashid Khan claiming 4/26 to steer Afghanistan to victory. In another sign that the future of Afghanistan cricket is bright, 16-year-old leg-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman opened the bowling for his team and picked up two wickets.
The two teams play four more one-dayers in the UAE before meeting again in Zimbabwe in March in the qualifying tournament for the 2019 World Cup.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 333/5 in 50 overs (Rahmat Shah 114, Najibullah Zadran*, Ihsanullah 54) beat Zimbabwe 179 in 34.4 overs (Rashid Khan 4/26)
(With inputs from AFP)