Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by 158 runs at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on October 19, a result that follows directly on from Zimbabwe's 99-run win over Bangladesh in the tournament opener and leaves Sikandar Raza's side with no remaining route to the final of the UAE ODI tri-series.
Afghanistan posted 294 all out in their 50 overs, built around a century from Sediqullah Atal, who made 102 off 110 balls to earn player-of-the-match honours, and a brisk 90 off 96 balls from Ibrahim Zadran at the top of the order. The pair put Afghanistan in position for a total that always looked beyond a Zimbabwe batting line-up already missing some first-choice options on this tour.
Rashid Khan backed up the batting with a four-wicket haul as Zimbabwe were bowled out for just 136 in 38.4 overs while chasing 295, never threatening to build the kind of partnership that carried them past Bangladesh two days earlier. It is the margin, as much as the result itself, that stands out: Zimbabwe's reply never got close to troubling the required rate.
The tri-series format sends only the top two of the three sides through to the October 23 final, with each team playing the other two once before that. Zimbabwe have now completed both of their league fixtures and finish with two defeats, while Bangladesh and Afghanistan have a win apiece heading into their head-to-head meeting on October 21. Whatever happens in that match, both sides will already have at least one win more than Zimbabwe's tally of zero from two games, meaning Bangladesh and Afghanistan are both effectively through to the final — the only thing the October 21 meeting now decides is who finishes top of the table.
Afghanistan face Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi on October 21 in what is now a dress rehearsal for the final two days later, before the two sides meet again in the title match on October 23. For Zimbabwe, the tour continues regardless, with a three-match T20I series and a two-Test series against Afghanistan still to come before the home season winds down in mid-November.
Live scores from Abu Dhabi are available on SportGod's live matches page, with more tournament coverage on the SportGod blog.
Scores and figures in this article are verified against same-day and freshly re-checked reporting as of October 20, 2026; the qualification picture reflects the completed results as of this writing and could change only if Zimbabwe's remaining fixtures in the UAE affect the standings, which they do not under the tri-series format.
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