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The Intercontinental Cup match between Zimbabwe XI and international rising stars Afghanistan turned into the Tatenda Taibu vs Noor Ali show, with both men scoring centuries in both innings that represented the bulk of what their sides were able to score - although Mohammad Nabi and Trevor Garwe both also scored tons to get in on the act.

Batting woes have been a feature of most Zimbabwean sides for a while now, and this match was no exception. Having been put in to bat after Afghanistan won the toss, Zim did what they usually do an formed an innings primarily of false starts, supported by face-saving performances by Taibu (170) and Garwe (48) - of the rest, only Shingi Masakadza passed 20 as Zim were bowled out for a disappointing 350, with Mohamad Nabi taking 3/90 for the visitors.

If Zim were hoping that their Affiliate opponents would falter in reply, they were soon disappointed, as opener Noor Ali's patient 130 formed a good platform for Afghanistan to build on. In many ways they suffered the same problem with false starts that Zimbabwe had, but Mohamad Nabi proved the difference between the sides, adding 102 in the lower order to help steer Afghanistan to a first-innings total of 427, which saw them secure 6 tournament points in the process for their first-innings lead. Timycen Maruma had a particularly good run with the ball, taking 6/106 and leaking less than 3 runs an over during his 36 overs.

That saw the focus move back onto Zimbabwe, who will have been determined to avoid the humiliation of a loss, and while it was the same old story with the bat - once again only 4 batsmen passed 20 - it was Taibu again who stepped up to the plate, adding 120, backed up by Trevor Garwe's 117 and Forster Mutizwa's 56. With time running out on day four, Taibu finally declared when Garwe's wicket fell with the score on 446/9, leaving Afghanistan with a session and a half to chase 370 - a target that looked likely to lead only to a draw.

And so it turned out. Noor Ali once again impressed with the bat for Afghanistan while Forster Mutizwa took a decent 2/18 from just under 4 overs bowled, but once Ali reached his second century of the match, the two captains accepted the inevitability of the draw and play was called off with Afghanistan on 211/4.

That left Afghanistan with 9 points from the match and Zimbabwe XI with 3, a score that sees them propping up the bottom of the Intercontinental Cup. Afghanistan now move on to face Netherlands next week, while Zimbabwe XI are expected to meet Kenya some time in October - and with Kenya currently topping the table, it should be an interesting clash. Full scorecard for this match is below the cut.
Zimbabwe XI 350 (Taibu 170, Mohamad Nabi 3/90) & 446/9 decl (Taibu 120, Dawlat Ahmadzai 2/40)
Afghanistan 427 (Noor Ali 130, Maruma 6/106) & 211/4 (Noor Ali 100*). Match drawn.

Zimbabwe XI 1st innings  	                        R  	M  	B  	4s  	6s  	SR
F Kasteni 	b Dawlat Ahmadzai 	                13 	0 	22 	2 	0 	59.09
TS Chisoro 	c †Mohammad Shahzad b Dawlat Ahmadzai 	16 	0 	36 	3 	0 	44.44
T Taibu*† 	c Nowroz Mangal b Mohammad Nabi 	172 	0 	211 	26 	0 	81.51
T Maruma 	b Hamid Hassan 	                        11 	0 	34 	2 	0 	32.35
F Mutizwa 	c & b Mohammad Nabi 	                20 	0 	38 	4 	0 	52.63
SW Masakadza 	run out 	                        22 	0 	38 	3 	0 	57.89
TN Garwe 	c Hamid Hassan b Mohammad Nabi 	        48 	0 	74 	6 	0 	64.86
C Zhuwawo 	lbw b Samiullah Shenwari 	        8 	0 	18 	1 	0 	44.44
T Kamungozi 	lbw b Hamid Hassan 	                0 	0 	5 	0 	0 	0.00
CB Mpofu 	run out 	                        20 	0 	15 	4 	0 	133.33
AM Manyumwa 	not out 	                        2 	0 	9 	0 	0 	22.22
	Extras 	(b 3, lb 6, nb 9) 	                18
	Total 	(all out; 81.5 overs) 	                350 	(4.27 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-29 (Kasteni, 8.1 ov), 2-45 (Chisoro, 12.2 ov), 3-71 (Maruma, 20.6 ov), 
4-109 (Mutizwa, 31.6 ov), 5-188 (Masakadza, 46.1 ov), 6-312 (Garwe, 71.5 ov), 
7-328 (Zhuwawo, 76.4 ov), 8-328 (Taibu, 77.2 ov), 9-330 (Kamungozi, 78.3 ov), 
10-350 (Mpofu, 81.5 ov)

Bowling 	        O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ
Dawlat Ahmadzai 	8.4 	2 	14 	2 	1.61
Shapoor Zadran 	        17 	1 	81 	0 	4.76
Noor Ali 	        0.2 	0 	4 	0 	12.00
Hamid Hassan 	        16 	0 	100 	2 	6.25
Mohammad Nabi 	        28.5 	6 	90 	3 	3.12
Samiullah Shenwari 	8 	1 	36 	1 	4.50
Raees Ahmadzai 	        1 	0 	5 	0 	5.00
Ahmed Shah 	        2 	0 	11 	0 	5.50


Afghanistan 1st innings  	                R  	M  	B  	4s  	6s  	SR
Noor Ali 	        c Mpofu b Kamungozi 	130 	254 	200 	22 	2 	65.00
Ahmed Shah 	        c & b Maruma 	        40 	181 	132 	6 	0 	30.30
Mohammad Shahzad† 	c †Taibu b Kamungozi 	79 	177 	126 	9 	1 	62.69
Nowroz Mangal* 	        c Manyumwa b Maruma 	25 	57 	60 	4 	0 	41.66
Asghar Stanikzai 	b Maruma 	        5 	15 	14 	0 	0 	35.71
Raees Ahmadzai 	        lbw b Kasteni 	        8 	20 	17 	1 	0 	47.05
Mohammad Nabi 	        c Garwe b Maruma 	102 	97 	139 	13 	2 	73.38
Samiullah Shenwari 	lbw b Maruma 	        6 	66 	67 	0 	0 	8.95
Dawlat Ahmadzai 	lbw b Maruma 	        6 	73 	67 	0 	0 	8.95
Shapoor Zadran 	        c †Taibu b Chisoro 	0 	5 	1 	0 	0 	0.00
Hamid Hassan 	        not out 	        0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0.00
	Extras 	(lb 4, w 1, nb 17) 	        22 					
	Total 	(all out; 130.1 overs) 	        423 	(3.24 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-149 (Ahmed Shah, 13.3 ov), 2-225 (Noor Ali, 64.4 ov), 3-289 (Nowroz Mangal), 
4-297 (Mohammad Shahzad), 5-302 (Asghar Stanikzai), 6-306 (Raees Ahmadzai, 90.2 ov), 
7-357 (Samiullah Shenwari), 8-427 (Mohammad Nabi, 128.1 ov), 9-427 (Dawlat Ahmadzai, 129.6 ov), 
10-427 (Shapoor Zadran, 130.1 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ
AM Manyumwa 	12 	1 	48 	0 	4.00 	(7nb)
TN Garwe 	13 	1 	58 	0 	4.46 	(2nb, 1w)
CB Mpofu 	18 	0 	48 	0 	2.66 	(2nb)
T Kamungozi 	40 	9 	117 	2 	2.92
SW Masakadza 	7 	0 	31 	0 	4.42 	(6nb)
T Maruma 	36 	6 	106 	6 	2.94
F Kasteni 	3 	0 	12 	1 	4.00
TS Chisoro 	1.1 	0 	3 	1 	2.57


Zimbabwe XI 2nd innings  	                        R  	M  	B  	4s  	6s  	SR
C Zhuwawo 	b Hamid Hassan 	                        15 	28 	17 	2 	1 	88.23
F Kasteni 	c & b Shapoor Zadran 	                10 	10 	11 	1 	0 	90.90
TS Chisoro 	c Samiullah Shenwari b Shapoor Zadran 	9 	66 	17 	1 	0 	52.94
T Taibu*† 	b Dawlat Ahmadzai 	                120 	264 	196 	16 	0 	61.22
SW Masakadza 	lbw b Hamid Hassan 	                16 	70 	58 	3 	0 	27.58
T Maruma 	c Ahmed Shah b Mohammad Nabi 	        9 	24 	26 	2 	0 	34.61
F Mutizwa 	b Dawlat Ahmadzai 	                56 	137 	141 	5 	0 	39.71
TN Garwe 	c Asghar Stanikzai b Mohammad Nabi 	117 	174 	122 	13 	4 	95.90
T Kamungozi 	run out (Asghar Stanikzai) 	        20 	87 	60 	2 	0 	33.33
CB Mpofu 	not out 	                        30 	72 	56 	4 	0 	53.57
	Extras 	(b 4, lb 17, w 2, nb 21) 	        44 					
	Total 	(9 wickets dec; 113.5 overs; 448 mins) 	446 	(3.91 runs per over)

Did not bat: AM Manyumwa

Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Kasteni, 3.3 ov), 2-33 (Zhuwawo, 5.6 ov), 3-43 (Chisoro, 8.3 ov), 
4-86 (Masakadza, 24.3 ov), 5-102 (Maruma, 34.3 ov), 6-267 (Taibu, 74.2 ov), 
7-269 (Mutizwa, 74.5 ov), 8-352 (Kamungozi, 94.6 ov), 9-446 (Garwe, 113.5 ov)

Bowling 	        O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
Shapoor Zadran 	        16 	2 	64 	2 	4.00 	(3nb, 1w) 	
Hamid Hassan 	        32 	7 	120 	2 	3.75 	(11nb, 1w) 	
Mohammad Nabi 	        27.5 	12 	54 	2 	1.94 		
Samiullah Shenwari 	6 	0 	46 	0 	7.66 		
Ahmed Shah 	        12 	2 	45 	0 	3.75 		
Nowroz Mangal 	        13 	1 	48 	0 	3.69 		
Dawlat Ahmadzai 	6 	0 	40 	2 	6.66 	(7nb) 	
Raees Ahmadzai  	1 	0 	8 	0 	8.00 	


Afghanistan 2nd innings (target: 370 runs)  	        R  	M  	B  	4s  	6s  	SR
Noor Ali 	        not out 	                100 	168 	134 	15 	1 	74.62
Ahmed Shah 	        lbw b Mutizwa 	                37 	100 	81 	7 	0 	45.67
Asghar Stanikzai 	b Kasteni 	                14 	22 	24 	3 	0 	58.33
Raees Ahmadzai 	        b Kamungozi 	                5 	17 	14 	1 	0 	35.71
Mohammad Shahzad† 	c Zhuwawo b Mutizwa 	        41 	28 	22 	5 	2 	186.36
	Extras 	(b 6, lb 1, w 1, nb 6) 	                14
	Total 	(4 wickets; 44.5 overs; 168 mins) 	211 	(4.70 runs per over)

Did not bat: Samiullah Shenwari, Dawlat Ahmadzai, Mohammad Nabi, Hamid Hassan, Nowroz Mangal*,
Shapoor Zadran

Fall of wickets: 1-103 (Ahmed Shah, 26.4 ov), 2-128 (Asghar Stanikzai, 32.3 ov),
3-162 (Raees Ahmadzai, 37.4 ov), 4-211 (Mohammad Shahzad, 44.5 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ
CB Mpofu 	4 	0 	8 	0 	2.00
SW Masakadza 	4 	0 	21 	0 	5.25 	(5nb)
AM Manyumwa 	3 	0 	13 	0 	4.33 	(1nb)
TS Chisoro 	3 	0 	15 	0 	5.00 	(1w)
T Maruma 	12 	0 	55 	0 	4.58
F Mutizwa 	3.5 	0 	18 	2 	4.69
F Kasteni 	2 	0 	16 	1 	8.00
C Zhuwawo 	2 	0 	9 	0 	4.50
T Kamungozi 	11 	1 	49 	1 	4.45