Afghanistan have climbed to seventh place in the latest ICC Men’s ODI Team Rankings, overtaking England after beating Zimbabwe by seven wickets in the final of the ODI tri-series in Sharjah on Friday. Afghanistan now have 94 rating points, one more than England, who have dropped to eighth place with 93 points. India lead the rankings.
The rise follows a title-winning campaign in the tri-series, which featured Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe and concluded on Friday. Afghanistan were clinical with bat and ball throughout the competition, and they capped it with a performance full of control in the final.
Brief scores: Zimbabwe 169 all out in 43.3 overs (Sikandar Raza 68, Ryan Burl 31; Rashid Khan 3 for 41, Mohammad Nabi 2 for 25, Bilal Sami 2 for 27, Fazalhaq Farooqi 2 for 41) lost to Afghanistan 170 for 3 in 34.3 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 70 not out, Rahmat Shah 43, Rahmanullah Gurbaz 36; Newman Nyamhuri 2 for 30) by seven wickets.
Zimbabwe, who chose to bat, lost their first three wickets quickly and slumped to 55 for 4 as Farooqi, Azmatullah Omarzai and Sami struck early. Captain Raza resisted with 68 off 83 balls, including three fours and three sixes, and shared a fighting stand with Burl, but Afghanistan’s bowlers kept taking wickets at the right time. Nabi’s two wickets included his 300th wicket across formats in international cricket, while Rashid returned to remove three batters in quick time and finished with 3 for 41. Rashid’s effort also made him only the second bowler in ODIs to complete six successive innings with at least three wickets each, and he ended the tournament as player of the series with 11 wickets.
The chase was never in trouble. Gurbaz attacked from the start, making 36 off 31 balls, and after Nyamhuri dismissed Gurbaz and Sediqullah Atal, Zadran and Rahmat Shah added 82 runs for the third wicket. Zadran, who was named player of the match, remained unbeaten on 70 off 96 balls with four fours and a six, and captain Hashmatullah Shahidi struck the winning boundary in the 35th over as Afghanistan reached their target with 93 balls to spare.
For a team that continues to rise in the 50-over format, seventh place is another marker of progress, and the one-point gap to England underlines how tight the middle of the table has become. The tri-series title, built on a varied bowling attack and a calm chase in the final, gives Afghanistan both silverware and ranking points.
