Bulawayo [Zimbabwe], January 6 (ANI): Following his side’s 72-run win over Zimbabwe in the second Test match of the series, Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi on Monday said that the team showed spirit.
With this victory, the visitors seal the two-match series 1-0. Rahmat Shah was awarded the “Player of the Series” award for his exceptional batting performance which included a double hundred in the first Test.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Shahidi said that the first day of the Test match was difficult for the Afghans.
“The first day was difficult for us, coming back from that was not easy. The team showed the spirit and that showed we are mentally strong and hopefully this works in the future as well. Credit goes to the entire team, but especially to Rahmat, Izmat and Rashid. First of all, I will talk about Rahmat. He has always showed his talent when the team needs him,” Shahidi was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying.
The skipper lauded Rahmat Shah’s performance and said that he showed his talent in the game.
“One of the best innings he has played in front of me. He (Izmat) has scored a lot of runs in First-Class cricket. We played a lot of First-Class cricket this year and that helped us to pick players, and made him mature. The first innings was difficult for him and coming back from that was not easy, but very happy (for him). His father was one of the founders of Afghanistan cricket and now, his son is rising and playing for his country, made it special,” he added.
Chasing a total of 277 runs, the hosts were bowled out for 205. The highest scorer in the side was their skipper Craig Ervine who slammed 53 runs which was laced with four boundaries and a maximum.
Sikandar Raza (38 runs off 83 balls, 2 fours), Ben Curran (38 runs from 53 balls, 5 fours), Takudzwanshe Kaitano (21 runs in 56 balls, 2 fours and 1 six), Sean Williams (16 runs off 25 balls, 2 fours) and Joylord Gumbie (15 runs from 45 balls, 2 fours) played notable for their side but it went in vain as their team end up on a losing side.
For the Afghanistan side, the pick of the bowler was Rashid Khan who grabbed seven wickets in his spell of 27.3 overs where he conceded 66 runs. Two wickets were snapped by left-arm spinner Zia-Ur-Rehman in his 15 overs where he gave away 44 runs.
Earlier in the third innings, Afghanistan scored 363 with the help of knocks from Rahmat Shah (139 runs in 275 balls, 14 fours) and Ismat Alam (101 runs off 181 balls, 9 fours).
For Zimbabwe, six wickets were bagged by right-arm seamer Blessing Muzarabani in his spell of 29 overs where he conceded 95 runs. Three wickets were taken by Richard Ngarava and one wicket was taken by Sikandar Raza. (ANI)
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