daniel chigunwe
BEN Curran finally made his debut for Zimbabwe but the Chevrons were reeling at 44-5 before rain ended the first ODI against Afghanistan at Harare Sports Club yesterday.
His mother was there to watch this special day for her son.
Ahead of the match, there had been fears that the weather will play a big part in this series with rain also expected in the coming few days from the remnants of Cyclone Chido.
Afghanistan won the toss, when play was finally cleared to start in the afternoon, with the match having been reduced to a 28-over contest.
Zimbabwe captain, Craig Ervine, said he would also have chosen to field.
Newman Nyamhuri was also making his debut.
Curran scored 15 runs, from 22 balls, including a four before he was caught by Akram Alikhili off Azmatulla’s bowling.
The tricky overcast conditions meant it was a tall order for the batting side and Zimbabwe were struggling by the time the umpires called off the match at 14,53 local time.
After a significant rain delay, only 9.2 overs of play were possible.
The ball was hooping around and Azmatullah made merry.
He swung the ball significantly and also got sharp lateral movement off the deck as the Zimbabwean batters were caught off-guard against him.
Azmatullah took a 4-fer before rain intervened once again.
This bout of rain was heavy and that washed away hopes of any more play.
The second ODI is set for tomorrow but it will also likely deal with the threat from the weather. — Sports Reporter/Cricbuzz.
Online Reporter
