Wisden
Tour review

Zimbabwe v Afghanistan, 2014

Enock Muchinjo


Mohammad Nabi and Brendan Taylor shake hands, Zimbabwe v Afghanistan, 1st ODI, Bulawayo, July 18, 2014
Mohammad Nabi and Brendan Taylor at the start of the series © AFP
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Series/Tournaments: Afghanistan tour of Zimbabwe

One-day internationals (4): Zimbabwe 2, Afghanistan 2

Afghanistan launched an improbable comeback from 2-0 down to share their first bilateral series with a Full Member nation. For Zimbabwe, it meant a sour end to Brendan Taylor's embattled three-year leadership in the shorter formats: hours after they crashed to a 100-run defeat - the heaviest for a Full Member at the hands of an Associate - the board pushed through a recommendation from their cricket committee that Elton Chigumbura should replace him as one-day captain. Splitting the job seemed a strange decision for a team who seldom played international cricket anyway.

The changes did not stop there: Andy Waller, head coach since May 2013, was shunted to a new position as director of coaching, although many suspected that was because Zimbabwe Cricket could afford neither to make him redundant nor hire anyone else. He was replaced by Stephen Mangongo, his fiery assistant. All this came on the day Peter Chingoka, at the helm of the board for 22 often controversial years, also formally stepped aside.

Zimbabwe's confidence nosedived after they blew a chance to settle the one-day series in the third match. They came under furious criticism from fans and local media: shots were hurried, the fielding was poor and the bowling wayward. It did not augur well for the visit of South Africa and Australia later in the summer.

There was, though, a second improbable comeback for Mark Vermeulen, six years after being cleared of arson, on psychiatric grounds, for setting fire to the ZC boardroom and Academy building in 2006. He was easily the best batsman on show in the two unofficial Test matches hastily added to the schedule after ZC pulled the plug on an A-tour of Bangladesh because of a lack of funds.

If Zimbabwe's cricket reeked of misery and decay, Afghanistan's oozed youth and verve. Seven months before their maiden World Cup, the Afghanistan Cricket Board were so desperate for decent opposition that they footed the bill for the tour. For the most part, and especially in the last two one-day internationals, the Afghans played free-flowing cricket and rarely missed an opportunity to attack. Their top order was stacked with clean ball-strikers who loved to advance and hit down the ground. They also blooded several of their second generation of cricketers: those who learned the game inside Afghanistan, rather than the refugee camps of Pakistan. Usman Ghani, a top order batsman, became the second-youngest player - after Shahid Afridi, another Pashtun, in 1996-97 - to score a one-day international century, while Sharafuddin Ashraf, a tidy left-arm spinner, was the leading wicket-taker across the formats.

Match reports for

Tour Match: Zimbabwe A v Afghanistan at Bulawayo, Jul 13, 2014
Report | Scorecard

Tour Match: Zimbabwe A v Afghanistan at Bulawayo, Jul 15, 2014
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1st ODI: Zimbabwe v Afghanistan at Bulawayo, Jul 18, 2014
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2nd ODI: Zimbabwe v Afghanistan at Bulawayo, Jul 20, 2014
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3rd ODI: Zimbabwe v Afghanistan at Bulawayo, Jul 22, 2014
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4th ODI: Zimbabwe v Afghanistan at Bulawayo, Jul 24, 2014
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1st unofficial Test: Zimbabwe A v Afghanistan at Harare, Jul 27-30, 2014
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2nd unofficial Test: Zimbabwe A v Afghanistan at Harare, Aug 2-3, 2014
Report | Scorecard

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