Brendan Taylor ton against Afghanistan sees Zimbabwe bounce back

Dubai, February 11: A brilliant century from Brendan Taylor saw Zimbabwe bounce back from an opening-match defeat to level their ODI series against Afghanistan with a 154-run rout in Sharjah.

Scorecard

Taylor made 125 off 121 in a stunning knock that included 13 boundaries, eight of which were maximums, as Zimbabwe posted a commanding total of 333-5.

Incredibly, that was the same score Afghanistan posted in the first ODI, while their measly 179 in an underwhelming reply was what Zimbabwe had chalked up while chasing in that first fixture.

After Haris Masakadza was run out on 48, Taylor formed part of a triple-figure partnership with Sikandar Raza (92) to help Zimbabwe to their commanding total.

Rashid Khan claimed the scalp of Taylor as he returned decent figures of 2-36 with the ball, but he was one of six Afghanistan players who failed to score anything higher than eight with the bat.

Asghar Stanikzai's side never looked like fighting to an unlikely victory, losing their opening duo for just 18 before Graeme Cremer (4-41) missed out on a hat-trick after dismissing Mohammad Nabi (31) and Gulbadin Naib (0) off successive deliveries.

Rahmat Shah (43) and Dawlat Zadran (47 not out) did their best to keep Afghanistan in the hunt, but Shah saw his middle stump torn up by Cremer as Zimbabwe comfortably levelled the series at 1-1.

Source: OPTA