zimcricketnews.com

ESPNStar.com has an article looking at the current position of the Afghan cricket team, who have been enjoying a rapid rise up the world rankings over the past year or so. The article makes for interesting reading in its own right, but the interesting point from a Zimbabwean point of view comes near the end of the article, and the following comment by Afghanistan Cricket Board CEO Aimal Shinwari:

"We have invited Zimbabwe for a friendly series in Abu Dhabi. The idea is to play more matches and gain some more international exposure."

Two teams, both looking for as much match exposure as they can get - sounds like a plan to me. The risk, of course, is that Afghanistan would win and in doing so undermine ZC's Test return plans - so what I can see happening is ZC playing it safe and opting for an Afghanistan v Zimbabwe 'A' series. Whichever Zim team would turn up to play, though, I'd like to see the Afghan offer accepted.
espnstar.com - ‘Conflicts helping Afghan cricket’

Zimbabwe picked up a morale-boosting win over Afghanistan in their second U19 World Cup warm-up match in New Zealand this morning. Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to field, giving Afghanistan the chance to set the running in the match. With five of the Afghan batsmen failing to reach double figures, though, the side was in trouble from the start, with the wicket of #2 Anwar Anwari (0) falling with the score on just one, and regular wickets falling from there. Callum Price led the Zimbabwe attack, taking 3/57, while Hashmatullah Shaidi (50) was able to add some respectability to the innings for Afghanistan. They were still bowled out for 175, though, a total far short of where they would have wanted to be.

That said, Zim U19's batting is notoriously flakey, with most matches seeing one or two players but in decent performances while the rest of the side collapses around them. Today, though, enough players made a contribution to see Zimbabwe ease to a comfortable win, with Peter Moor's 45 leading the way. Andrew Lindsay (37), Dylon Higgins (30) and Scott Daly (23) also chipped in as Zim reached their target in the 41st over. Ayub Khan took 2/28 for Afghanistan.

Full scorecard below the cut. Zimbabwe's first competitive match in the tournament is against Canada on Friday (15th).
Afghanistan 175 (44.2/47 overs; Hashmatullah Shaidi 50, Price 3/57), Zimbabwe 176/6 (40.3/47 overs; Moor 45, Ayub Khan 2/28). Zimbabwe U19 win by 4 wickets.

The remaining fixtures in the current Intercontinental Cup competition have been released, and you can find the full list on our Fixtures page. Zimbabwe's next match won't be until August 2010, when the side travel to Canada and Netherlands, while the final two matches against Ireland and Scotland are currently billed as "home" games - although I suspect they may well end up being played on neutral territory.

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.

The squad to play Afghanistan in the Intercontinental Cup has been named:

Tatenda Taibu (captain), Forster Mutizwa, Admire Manyumwa, Chris Mpofu, Timycen Maruma, Natsai Mushangwe, Friday Kasteni, Bothwell Chapungu, Tendai Chisoro, Cephas Zhuwawo, Regis Chakabva, Shingi Masakadza, Trevor Garwe, Tafadzwa Kamungozi, Mbekezeli Mabuza.

Taibu's suspension clearly only applies to the senior squad, then. Given that this match overlaps with the Bangladesh series, Zim are fielding a genuine 'A' side, which should quieten some of the complaints being made by other sides in the competition who were concerned that Zim 'A' would be an 'A' side in name only.