Rashid takes three as Afghanistan fold Zimbabwe for 169 in tri-series final

Afghanistan's sensational catching complemented their accurate bowling as they bowled Zimbabwe out for 169 in the tri-series final in Sharjah. Given their batting form in the tournament so far, Afghanistan will be expected to chase down the total quite easily.

Rashid Khan starred with 3 for 41 for Afghanistan, but it was once again their pace trio and the veteran Mohammad Nabi who combined to take the first six wickets before Rashid got his first. Nabi, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Bilal Sami took two wickets each.

Only Sikandar Raza stood firm for Zimbabwe, with the captain making 68. He struck three sixes and as many fours in his 83-ball stay. Raza is now the first batter aged 40 years or more to score a fifty in an ODI tournament final.

Raza was among many players who struggled with the Sharjah heat and humidity. Farooqi needed a long time to bowl the last over of his first spell, while Raza, Nabi and a few others needed medical assistance from time to time.

The final, though, went along predictable lines. Zimbabwe, despite choosing to bat first, were off to a third consecutive poor start in the series. They were 26 for 3 in the seventh over, thus losing three wickets in the powerplay in all three games in the tri-series.

Farooqi got the ball to nip back sharply into Tadiwanashe Marumani, who left a huge gap between bat and pad. Afghanistan then brought out their fielding brilliance for a string of wickets thereafter. It started with Azmatullah Omarzai taking a one-handed caught-and-bowled chance to remove Brian Bennett in the sixth over. Next over, AM Ghazanfar took a stunning one-handed catch too, diving to his right at short square leg, as Tafadzwa Tsiga fell for 4.

Full report to follow...