Sedikula Attal scored his first one-day international hundred as Zimbabwe beat Zimbabwe by 232 runs in Harare on Thursday to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Attar (104) and Abdul Malik (84) put on 191 for the first wicket, with captain Hashmatullah Shahidi remaining unbeaten on 29 The tourists posted 286-6 in 50 overs. Zimbabwe, who won the toss, were in trouble from the start as Ben Curran ran out on the final ball of the first over.
Only Sikandar Raza (19 not out) and Sean Williams (16) reached double figures as the home side finished 17.5 overs at Harare Sports Club Out at 54 points.
Afghanistan bowlers Allah Ghazanfar (3-9), Naveed Zadran (3-13) and Fazalhaq Farooqi (2-15) wreaked havoc.
“I’m very happy with myself and the team’s performance. We won a great cricket match,” said Man of the Match Attar.
“Abdel and I coped well. We supported each other and that’s why we did well and the team did well. I did get a little nervous as the century approached.”
Shahidi said: “I was really impressed with the way we batted in the opener. Credit goes to them. We outscored them in every aspect.
“While batting, I found the wicket a bit tricky. I believed we had enough runs to win. We gave 100% effort and did a great job.
“Everyone on this team has a responsibility and everyone knows their role. We want to keep playing like this.”
The 23-year-old Attal, who made his ODI debut last month, hit four sixes and eight fours in 128 balls before falling victim to Newman Nyamhuri (3-53).
Malik also lost to Niamhuri, playing his second ODI, after an innings that included six and 11 fours.
It was another dark day in the 50-over series for Zimbabwe, with the opener against Afghanistan two days ago being called off due to rain after just an hour.
Zimbabwe shares the record for the lowest international ODI score with the United States, scoring just 35 against Sri Lanka in Harare in 2004.
They scored 38 runs against Sri Lanka in Colombo and 44 runs against Bangladesh in Chittagong, making them one of the seven lowest-scoring ODI nations.
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