half volley on the pads and he's flicked that up and over the deep backward square leg boundary. Way over the ropes. The entire Afghanistan team is out in the middle as Naib is hoisted on the shoulders of Nabi. The Afghanistan flag flutters high in the night sky. The fans are dancing. What a knock, what a finish!
Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan, 5th ODI at Sharjah, Jan 06 2016 - Ball by Ball Commentary
RESULT
5th ODI (D/N), Sharjah, January 06, 2016, Zimbabwe tour of United Arab Emirates
248
(49.4/50 ov, T:249) 254/8
Afghanistan won by 2 wickets (with 2 balls remaining)
New
AFG
Full commentary
Thanks for joining us on the coverage. I enjoyed every moment of it. Hope you did too. Join us for the first of two T20s on Friday. Until then, it's goodbye from all of us here at the commentary desk. Cheers!
Afghanistan have broken into the top 10 of the ICC ODI rankings This is their second series win against a Full Member. Both have been against Zimbabwe. The first one came in October. Even there, the series was tied at 2-2 going into the final game. So they've now proved that win was no fluke.
Mohammad Shahzad wins the Man of the Series for 237 runs in five innings, including a century in a match-winning chase . "The pitch was good for batting, credit goes to everyone. Well done to Gulbadin. I need to work on staying at the crease. Learning a lot from the Pakistani legend Inzamam-ul-Haq. We're all excited for the T20s. We won the series in Zimbabwe, we want to repeat that here.
Asghar Stanikzai: It's a phenomenal achievement to start off the year with a series win. Gulbadin has proved he's got the skill to play even in ODIs. Credit to him. Afghanistan is known for their ability to bounce back and we showed that today. It's a historic day for us.
Gulbadin Naib is the Man of the Match for his incredible unbeaten 68-ball 82 "Partnership with Rashid helped, gave me the energy to carry on. Before I went out to bat, the coach asked me to take my time and rotate strike."
Elton Chigumbura: I thought we lost it in the last nine overs of our bowling, where we didn't bowl our yorkers well. We bowled into Gulbadin's arc. When it comes to execution of our skills, it wasn't up to the standards. That was the difference between a win and a loss. I wanted to bowl, but was struggling and felt a bit of pain. We have to look forward now and bounce back in the T20 series.
Zimbabwe's bowling went off the boil at the death as Madziva and Chisoro missed their lengths. As a result, they kept being picked into the stands by comeback man Naib. Can't quite imagine he last played an ODI more than a year ago. Fair to say then that this was the biggest game of his life till date. Credit should also be given to Rashid Khan for playing his part during the course of the seventh-wicket stand.
Not often do you see Inzamam-ul-Haq display emotion. He was furious halfway through the chase, but now he has a big grin on his face. The team does a lap around the ground, the administrators are equally delighted, and why not! I can't even imagine what the scenes would be like in Kabul, Kandahar and elsewhere in the country right now. It's freezing cold, but this win should warm their hearts. Terrific scenes, this is what sport is all about.
Hamilton Masakadza has a tear or two in his eyes as he walks off. On most nights, the kind of knock he produced would have resulted in a victory. But a fantastic display of inhibited big hitting, fierce ball-striking from Gulbadin Naib has stolen the thunder as Afghanistan climb up to No. 10 in the ICC ODI rankings
Zwaak: "no one can imagine what is going on in Kabul city. everyone is on the streets, dancing... we lost the football match to India two nights ago and this was a good gift to the entire nation, a revenge, and all smile! "
Kiran: "Gem of an innings from Naib... Absolute boxoffice stuff ...this kind of series are important for odi cricket to survive ...good for fans ,great for the sport ..day to remember for Afghan guys..well played..richly deserved..."
Srinivasan: "Very happy for Afg but at the same time feeling very sorry for Zim, They were giving tough fight to almost all the top countries in 90's. WI and Zim are the two team which deteriorated to a greater extend in the last 15 years. "
49.4
6
Madziva to Gulbadin, SIX runs
49.3
2
Madziva to Gulbadin, 2 runs
squeezed down to long-on, not hit well, so they come back for the second as the fielder had to rush in to get to the ball. Naib thinks they've scored the winning runs and takes his helmet off and nearly runs a lap around the ground, only to be later told by the umpire that they still have one run to get
Mid-off into the ring, midwicket goes back, third man is square
49.2
4
Madziva to Gulbadin, FOUR runs
swings north, ball goes south. The ball flies off the thick edge into the vacant third man boundary. Not where he intended, but it doesn't matter
49.2
1w
Madziva to Gulbadin, 1 wide
loses his shape, pressure telling on him. Bowls it far too wide outside off, looked like the ball slipped out of his hand
49.1
2
Madziva to Gulbadin, 2 runs
carved over cover, the man in the deep gets around quickly but can't prevent the second
end of over 497 runs
AFG: 239/8CRR: 4.87 • RRR: 10.00
Gulbadin Naib68 (64b 2x4 5x6)
Dawlat Zadran1 (1b)
Tendai Chisoro 10-0-51-0
Neville Madziva 8-1-46-2
48.6
1
Chisoro to Gulbadin, 1 run
walks across the stumps and turns it round the corner for an easy single, sensible stuff. Will keep strike
48.5
1
Chisoro to Zadran, 1 run
angles it back from wide of the crease, dabbed behind point for a quick single
48.4
1
Chisoro to Gulbadin, 1 run
gets a thick edge to short third man
48.3
•
Chisoro to Gulbadin, no run
swing and a miss. Looked to go over cover, didn't get to the pitch. Half-stop by the keeper
48.2
•
Chisoro to Gulbadin, no run
cut but straight to point
48.1
4b
Chisoro to Gulbadin, 4 byes
fires a full toss outside off, he swings and misses, keeper fails to connect, four byes. Does it really matter how the runs come?
end of over 487 runs • 2 wickets
AFG: 232/8CRR: 4.83 • RRR: 8.50
Gulbadin Naib66 (59b 2x4 5x6)
Neville Madziva 8-1-46-2
Tendai Chisoro 9-0-48-0
47.6
W
Madziva to Mirwais, OUT
looks for the glory hit, swung across the line in his quest to go over midwicket, only connected with the humid air as the ball cannoned into the stumps. Poor application, but that's what pressure can do to you. Afghanistan camp looks stunned.
Mirwais Ashraf b Madziva 0 (1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0
47.5
1
Madziva to Gulbadin, 1 run
squeezed to deep midwicket, another yorker length delivery
47.4
W
Madziva to Rashid Khan, OUT
length ball, looked to go over long-off but didn't get enough power behind that one to go over the ropes, ended up chipping it as Graeme Cremer took a straightforward catch. Is there another twist?
Rashid Khan c Cremer b Madziva 31 (41b 3x4 0x6) SR: 75.6
47.3
1
Madziva to Gulbadin, 1 run
swung across towards square leg, lucky to get away with that low full toss. Naib is disappointed that he missed out
Usama: "no electricity here to turn on the telly.. cricinfo becomes the lifeline to stay in touch of this absolute thriller."
47.2
1
Madziva to Rashid Khan, 1 run
top yorker, tailing back in, he jams is bat down on time, they scoot across for the single
47.1
4
Madziva to Rashid Khan, FOUR runs
length on offer, clears the front leg and slaps that between cover and mid-off, easy pickings
end of over 476 runs
AFG: 225/6CRR: 4.78 • RRR: 8.00
Gulbadin Naib64 (57b 2x4 5x6)
Rashid Khan26 (38b 2x4)
Tendai Chisoro 9-0-48-0
Neville Madziva 7-1-39-0
46.6
•
Chisoro to Gulbadin, no run
good stop off his followthrough again
46.5
•
Chisoro to Gulbadin, no run
spins away from middle, covers the line of the ball, defended back down the pitch
46.4
2
Chisoro to Gulbadin, 2 runs
low full toss on the pads, flicked between deep midwicket and wide long on
Match Coverage
Instant answers to T20 questions
Afghanistan Innings
<1 / 3>