Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan 2nd ODI Match Preview & Prediction

Match Details

• Match: Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan, 2nd ODI
• Venue: Harare Sports Club, Harare
• Date & Time: Thursday, December 19, 07:30 GMT
• Live Broadcast and Streaming Details: FanCode app and website

Pitch Report

The Harare Sports Club pitch is a balanced surface that assists spinners more than pacers. Batters may find it challenging to score runs as the ball tends to stick to the deck before coming onto the bat. Speedsters who can take the pace out of the ball are likely to draw good results on this deck. The average first innings score at this venue is 229, with teams bowling first historically winning the game.

Head-To-Head Records

• Matches Played: 29
• Won by Zimbabwe: 10
• Won by Afghanistan: 18
• Tied: 0
• No Result: 1
• First-ever Fixture: July 18, 2014
• Most recent Fixture: December 17, 2024

Probable Predicted XIs

Zimbabwe ZIM:

• Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk)
• Ben Curran
• Dion Myers
• Craig Ervine (c)
• Sean Williams
• Sikandar Raza
• Brian Bennett
• Newman Nyamhuri
• Richard Ngarava
• Blessing Muzarabani
• Trevor Gwandu

Afghanistan AFG:

• Sediqullah Atal
• Abdul Malik
• Rahmat Shah
• Hashmatullah Shahidi (c)
• Azmatullah Omarzai
• Mohammad Nabi
• Ikram Alikhil (wk)
• Rashid Khan
• AM Ghazanfar
• Fazalhaq Farooqi
• Naveed Zadran

Top Performers

• Probable Best Batter: Brian Bennett – Zimbabwe's middle-order batter Brian Bennett was in fine form in the recent T20I series and ended as the highest run-scorer with 107 runs in three innings.
• Probable Best Bowler: Azmatullah Omarzai – Afghanistan's talented all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai has been in good touch in whatever game time he got with the ball during the T20I series and could take similar confidence in the 50-over format.

Today's Match Prediction

Afghanistan are expected to dominate this contest, given their recent form and Zimbabwe's batting troubles. The visitors have a better balance to their XI and will have the upper hand in the contest.

Scenario 1: Zimbabwe win the toss and opt to bowl first

• PP Score: 50-60
• AFG: 220-230
• Afghanistan to win the match

Scenario 2: Afghanistan win the toss and opt to bowl first

• PP Score: 40-50
• ZIM: 200-210
• Afghanistan to win the match

Prediction: Afghanistan to win

Recommended Bet: Back Azmatullah Omarzai to take 2+ wickets for Afghanistan and Blessing Muzarabani to take 2+ wickets for Zimbabwe.