Afghanistan registered a 158-run rout of Zimbabwe at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Monday (October 19). Sediqullah Atal’s century and Rashid Khan’s four-wicket haul pushed Afghanistan’s net run rate to +3.160, effectively leaving Zimbabwe and Bangladesh to fight it out for the other spot in the final.

Chasing 295, Zimbabwe only needed to score 196 to ensure that the final on Friday (October 23) would be a repeat of this contest. Instead, they ended up getting bundled out for just 136. Zimbabwe endured a torrid start with Fazalhaq Farooqi bowling Ben Curran with a hooping inswinger in the third over before returning to dismiss Tafadzwa Tsiga in the seventh.

While Brian Bennett, who struck the first ball of the innings for a boundary, teed off at one end, things continued to fall apart at the other with Brendan Taylor running himself out at the start of the eighth over. Once Bennett was trapped LBW by AM Ghazanfar in the 13th over, Zimbabwe were left reeling at 43 for 4, possibly abandoning their 295-run target and consigning themselves to reach 196 instead.

There was a brief recovery through a 64-run stand between Ryan Burl and Sikandar Raza, with a boundary after 78 deliveries, taking Zimbabwe to 100 in the 30th over. Just when it seemed like they had hope, Rashid Khan ended the stand two overs later by trapping Burl LBW. Rashid went to strike in each of his next three overs, crucially bowling Raza in the 36th over to all but seal the game. The game ended with Wellington Masakadza’s run-out in the 39th over.

Earlier in the day, Afghanistan’s openers got them off to a great start after opting to bat first. Both openers got underway with boundaries and posted a 50-run stand in just seven overs before Rahmanullah Gurbaz was out chopping on. There was little respite for Zimbabwe though with Ibrahim Zadran batting fluently while Sediqullah Atal settled in. The duo crafted a meticulous century stand and both reached fifties in the process.

Afghanistan had already raised the tempo by the 32nd over when Brad Evans finally broke through, dismissing Ibrahim Zadran 10 runs short of his century. Both Rahmat Shah and Azmatullah Omarzai fell in quick succession to dent Afghanistan further but a 42-run stand between Atal and Hashmatullah Shahidi brought them back on track.

Atal reached his third ODI ton in the 44th over before being run-out in the next. Afghanistan struck five boundaries in the last four overs but also lost just as many wickets to finish with less than 300. Their eventual total of 294 though proved to be more than sufficient.

Brief Scores: Afghanistan 294 all-out in 50 overs (Sediqullah Atal 102, Ibrahim Zadran 90; Brad Evans 3-48, Ernest Masuku 3-44) beat Zimbabwe 136 all-out in 38.4 overs (Sikandar Raza 48, Ryan Burl 31; Rashid Khan 4-17, Fazalhaq Farooqi 2-15) by 158 runs.