Afghanistan put up a collective bowling effort in the final of the tri-series at Sharjah to skittle Zimbabwe for just 169 runs. Rashid Khan was the pick of the bowlers, accounting for three wickets, while Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mohammad Nabi and Bilal Sami picked up a couple each.
In reply, Ibrahim Zadran held the Afghanistan innings together with an unbeaten 70 off 96, smashing four fours and a six. He stitched a 68-run stand with his opening partner Rahmanullah Gurbaz (36) and then joined hands with skipper Rahmat Shah (43) to add 82 runs for the third wicket.
Afghanistan chased down the 170-run target in the 35th over to win the tri-series. Zadran was named the player of the match for his brilliant knock, while Rashid took home the player of the series award for picking up 11 wickets in the tournament.
Latest men’s ODI team rankings after Afghanistan tri-seriesAfghanistan’s tri-series win has helped them overtake England in the rankings, with the latter recently losing to Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi. Afghanistan gained two points to jump from eighth to seventh place, while England lost two points after the twin losses to slip from sixth to eighth.
With England's slump in the rankings, Sri Lanka have jumped to sixth. Zimbabwe have also gained two points after making the final of the tri-series but remain in 11th place. Bangladesh failed to win a single game in the tri-series and lost two points but retained their ninth position in the rankings.
Position
Team
Matches
Points
Rating
1
India
36
4122
115
2
New Zealand
35
3809
109
3
South Africa
34
3547
104
4
Pakistan
34
3505
103
5
Australia
35
3568
102
6
Sri Lanka
41
3896
95
7
Afghanistan
31
2926
94
8
England
36
3331
93
9
Bangladesh
41
3304
81
10
West Indies
37
2924
79
11
Zimbabwe
21
1315
63
12
Ireland
17
897
53
13
Scotland
28
1260
45
14
Netherlands
30
1309
44
15
USA
30
1228
41
16
Namibia
27
837
31
17
Nepal
37
1108
30
18
Oman
28
631
23
19
United Arab Emirates
30
433
14
20
Canada
26
307
12
Image Credit: Afghanistan Cricket Board/X
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.