Zahir, Dawlat seal Afghanistan's innings win

Afghanistan's pace pair of Dawlat Zadran and Yamin Ahmadzai and chinaman bowler Zahir Khan played key roles in the side's innings-and-36-run win over Netherlands within two days in Voorburg.

The win gave Afghanistan 20 points and lifted them to the top of the points table of the ICC Intercontinental Cup, with 61 points, only one ahead of Ireland at 60. Zadran finished with a career-best match haul of 7 for 77, while Ahmadzai's five-for in the first innings and Zahir's four-wicket haul in the second bundled Netherlands out for 117 and 159 respectively.

Between them, Zadran and Ahmadzai took nine wickets in the first innings, after Afghanistan opted to bowl, inducing a slide so severe that Netherlands lost six wickets for 49 at one stage and were in danger of being bowled out for less than 100. They limped past 100 largely due to Pieter Seelaar's unbeaten 38 off 75 balls, which included five fours.

Afghanistan responded with a score of 312, taking a lead of 195 runs. Hashmatullah Shahidi anchored the innings with 83 off 184 deliveries, and shared two 50-plus stands, with Mohammad Nabi (50 for the sixth wicket) and Mirwais Ashraf (68 for the seventh wicket). Afghanistan also benefited from an 83-run second-wicket partnership, between Nasir Jamal and Rahmat Shah, that helped Afghanistan recover from a shaky 39 for 2 to 122 for 3.

Netherlands' openers, who had a partnership of 0 in the first innings, stitched together 57 in the second innings but another slide negated that effort. Netherlands went from 57 for 0 to 59 for 3 in three overs, and could only muster another 100 runs thereafter as Zahir and Dawlat struck. The only innings of note for Netherlands was opener Michael Rippon's 80 off 126 balls and he was the last man to be dismissed in an innings that lasted only 43.1 overs.