Shake Afghanistan opt for the field vs Zimbabwe
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and did not hesitate to feature in the opening ODI against Zimbabwe. The toss was delayed almost four hours due to persistent rain, reducing the game to a 28-overs-a-side match.
Ben, 28, is the middle brother of England internationals Sam and Tom Curran, and son of former Zimbabwe international and coach Kevin Curran. Ben represented Northamptonshire until 2022 before moving to play cricket in Zimbabwe, where he spent much of his childhood.
“The weather conditions are also suitable and the pitch is also spicy and hopefully we can take advantage of the first ten overs,” Shahidi said at the toss. “I was here for the last game. [T20I] and I saw that it was a good bowling track and that we can do well if we bat with concentration.”
Craig Ervine, the Zimbabwe captain, also wanted to play, but hoped the surface would be conducive to bowling all day. He also hoped that the middle and lower sectors would step forward.
Zimbabwe: Ben Curran, Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), Dion Myers, Craig Ervine (captain), Sean Williams, Brian Bennett, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Sikandar Raza, Trevor Gwandu, Newman Nyamhuri
Afghanistan: Sediqullah Atal, Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Abdul Malik, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Rahmat Shah, Fazalhaq Farooqi
