The Zimbabwe Chevrons defeated Afghanistan in an International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup qualifier match played at Queens Sports Club Club in Bulawayo. The hosts managed to win by just 2 runs after the match went into the last over.
Earlier on, Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat first and only managed to make 196 runs. The top order went out cheaply as Solomon Mire, Cephas Zhuwao and Hamilton Masakadza managed to score only four, zero, and three runs respectively. Brendan Taylor managed to steady the shape and top-scored for the host with 89 runs with the help of Sikandar Raza who scored 60 runs.
Afghanistan started the match well but a late collapse saw them losing three quick wickets and needing to score 19 runs from 46 balls with a single wicket in hand. However, some pedestrian bowling from the hosts resulted in the match going to the last over where the Afghans required four runs off the final over which was bowled by Brian Vittorri. Vittori managed to get the job done with two runs remaining when he had Shapoor Zadran caught by Brendan Taylor. Rahmat Shah top scored for Afghanistan with 69 runs while Mohammed Nabi had 51 runs.
With this victory, Zimbabwe now lies in second place in Group B with 4points. Scotland tops the table with 4 points as well by virtue of higher net run rate.