Eddie Chikamhi — The Zimbabwe cricket team was headed for what looked like a certain batting collapse before the first One Day International against Afghanistan was called off at Harare Sports Club due to persistent rain yesterday.
The Chevrons were in a spot of bother after facing 9.2 overs, with five wickets gone and 44 runs on the board, as batting proved difficult under the wet weather conditions.
The match had been reduced to 28 overs a side following a four-hour delay to the toss because of the unrelenting showers that started in the morning.
When the skies cleared around midday, Afghanistan won the toss and sent Zimbabwe in to bat first.
Debutant Ben Curran and Tadiwanashe Marumani opened the batting. But the take-off was slow.
The game did not take long to swing into Afghanistan's favour, with fast-bowling all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai engineering a mini rout after bagging four of the five Zimbabwean wickets.
The visitors could count themselves unfortunate that only 9.2 overs were possible on the day. Omarzai was ruthless with the new ball and multiplied Marumani's woes when he beat the out-of-form batsman with an inswinger that uprooted the middle stump.
Marumani was out for just six runs, and it was the fourth consecutive time he had to go for a single-digit score in international matches, following scores of nine, five, and six in the recent T20I series against the Afghans, which ended at the weekend.
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The opening pair put on 13 runs from 3.2 overs.
Brian Bennett became Omarzai's second victim on the next ball following a brilliant diving catch at second slip by Mohammad Nabi.
Then in came Dion Myers (12), but the right-handed batsman did not last long, trapped lbw by teenage bowler AM Ghazanfar to leave the hosts on 41/3.
Omarzai returned and struck twice in an over, removing debutant Curran (15) and Sean Williams (0) with no change on the Zimbabwe scoreboard as the hosts slid to 41/7.
It must have been a difficult start to an international career for Curran, who was earlier on handed his ODI cap by former Zimbabwe convener of selectors Kenyon Ziehl, who also played first-class cricket and rugby in Zimbabwe.
Curran is the son of former Zimbabwe international and coach Kevin and the middle brother to Sam and Tom, who have played international cricket with England.
With Williams gone, skipper Craig Ervine (1) and Sikandar Raza (1) were still trying to figure out an escape route when the skies opened again.
The match officials had no choice but to call off the game after the rain became heavier. Apart from Curran, Zimbabwe also handed a debut to teenage bowling sensation Newman Mhuri.
The second ODI is scheduled for tomorrow at the same venue. The teams are also set to clash in the last one-dayer in Harare on Saturday before engaging in a two-match Test series to begin on Boxing Day. The test series will conclude in the new year.
