Afghanistan bat; Zimbabwe bring in Burl and Masuku

Toss Afghanistan opt to bat vs Zimbabwe

Afghanistan captain Rahmat Shah won the toss and opted to bat first against Zimbabwe in the second match of the ODI tri-series in Abu Dhabi.

Zimbabwe have had to make two changes. Sikandar Raza said that injuries forced Craig Ervine and Newman Nyamhuri to sit out this game, with middle-order batter Ryan Burl and medium-pacer Ernest Masuku taking their places respective. Ervine scored the match-winning 93 in the first game against Bangladesh, while Nyamhuri picked up a wicket.

Afghanistan have gone for three seamers in Ziaur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Azmatullah Omarzai, who can chip in with the bat too.

Raza said that they have figured out a little bit more about the Abu Dhabi conditions, especially what they have to do when bowling first.

Afghanistan have almost all of their first-choice players in the playing XI, including Sediqullah Atal, who made a fourth-innings century in Afghanistan's one-off Test against Bangladesh which ended up in a thrilling draw.

Focus will also be on Rashid Khan, who is returning to action after being rested for the Test against Bangladesh.

Afghanistan: 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Sediqullah Atal, 4 Rahmat Shah (capt), 5 Hashmatullah Shahidi, 6 Azmatullah Omarzai, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 AM Ghazanfar, 10 Ziaur Rahman, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi

Zimbabwe: 1 Brian Bennett, 2 Ben Curran, 3 Tafadzwa Tsiga, 4 Brendan Taylor (wk), 5 Sikandar Raza (capt), 6 Ryan Burl, 7 Wessley Madhevere, 8 Brad Evans, 9 Wellington Masakadza, 10 Ernest Masuku, 11 Blessing Muzarabani