Star leg spinner Rashid Khan took his seventh wicket of the innings as Afghanistan speedily wrapped up a 72-run victory over Zimbabwe on Monday to win the two-Test series. Zimbabwe were 205-8 overnight with captain Craig Ervine unbeaten on 53 and needing 73 more runs to win the Test at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo after a drawn first Test. But the home team failed to add a run and Afghanistan needed just 15 deliveries to seal a first Test win since beating Zimbabwe in Abu Dhabi four years ago.
Richard Ngarava was run out for three, then man of the match Khan (7-66) added to his six-wicket haul on Sunday by trapping Ervine leg before.
Ervine was the top Zimbabwe scorer with his 103-ball knock including a six and four fours.
Khan tormented Zimbabwe throughout a match interrupted several times by rain, taking four first-innings wickets as well.
The 26-year-old deflected attention from himself after receiving the player of the match award, praising second-innings centurions Rahmat Shah (139) — who was named player of the series — and debutant Ismat Alam (101) instead.
“The way they performed second time round got us back into the match,” he said, referring to the 86-run deficit the tourists faced after the first innings.
“The way Ismat shrugged off the disappointment of being out for nought in his first innings was amazing. He was hurt during the second innings, but carried on for the sake of his country.
“I am recovering from back surgery so taking 11 wickets was very encouraging. It was all about adapting to the conditions, which initially favoured the bowlers, then the batters.”
Brief scores
Afghanistan 157 (Rashid Khan 25; S. Raza 3-30, N. Nyamhuri 3-42) and 363 in 113.5 overs (Rahmat Shah 139, Ismat Alam 101; B. Muzarabani 6-95, R. Ngarava 3-76) v Zimbabwe 243 (C. Ervine 75, S. Raza 61, S. Williams 49; Rashid Khan 4-94, Yamin Ahmadzai 3-62) and 205 in 68.3 overs (S. Ervine 53, B. Curran 38, S. Raza 38; Rashid Khan 7-66)
Result: Afghanistan won by 72 runs
Toss: Zimbabwe
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