AFG vs ZIM final: Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by 7 wickets to win the UAE tri-series, Rashid takes 3

AFG vs ZIM final result: Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by seven wickets to win the ODI tri-series in the UAE on Friday, 23 October, chasing 170 in 34.3 overs at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium with 93 balls to spare. The series, hosted by Afghanistan, also featured Bangladesh. The match started at 4:30pm Pakistan time.

Scorecard summary

Top performers: Sikandar Raza 68 (83 balls), Ryan Burl 31; Rashid Khan 3 for 41, Mohammad Nabi 2 for 25, Fazalhaq Farooqi 2 for 41, Bilal Sami 2 for 27. Ibrahim Zadran 70 not out (96 balls), Rahmat Shah 43, Rahmanullah Gurbaz 36 (31 balls); Newman Nyamhuri 2 for 30.

How Zimbabwe collapsed

Zimbabwe chose to bat and were in trouble inside seven overs. Farooqi bowled Tadiwanashe Marumani and had Tafadzwa Tsiga caught, and Azmatullah Omarzai took a return catch from Brian Bennett, leaving them 26 for 3. Omarzai's five overs cost only six runs.

Captain Sikandar Raza rebuilt with Ryan Burl in a 60-run stand for the fifth wicket, taking Zimbabwe to 115 for 4 in the 27th over. Then the spinners took over. Nabi had Burl caught and stumped Wessly Madhevere, and Rashid Khan removed Brad Evans and Newman Nyamhuri in quick succession: Zimbabwe lost five wickets for 22 runs. Raza fell to Rashid at 137 for 9, caught by Ibrahim Zadran. A last-wicket stand of 32 between Wellington Masakadza and Blessing Muzarabani (17 not out) got them to 169.

The chase

Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the most searched cricketer in Pakistan on Friday evening, set the tone with 36 off 31 balls, four fours and two sixes, as Afghanistan raced to 72 in the first 10 overs. Nyamhuri removed Gurbaz and Sediqullah Atal, but Ibrahim Zadran and captain Rahmat Shah added 82 for the third wicket to all but settle it. Rahmat fell for 43 with eight needed, and Zadran and Hashmatullah Shahidi saw Afghanistan home.

Why it matters

It is a tidy title for Afghanistan, who also played this series as their home fixtures in the UAE. Rashid Khan, who passed 150 ODI wickets in Asia in the series, and Nabi bowled 20 overs between them for 66 runs and five wickets, the difference on a slow Sharjah pitch.

Pakistan's own ODI and T20 fixtures, with start times in PKT, are on our Pakistan cricket schedule.