Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe: UAE ODI Tri-Series Final Set for 23 October

Afghanistan and Zimbabwe will contest the final of the 2026 UAE ODI Tri-Series, a round-robin one-day tournament that also included Bangladesh and was played in the United Arab Emirates from 17 to 23 October 2026, according to a tournament summary on Wikipedia and match coverage from CricTracker.

When and where

The final is scheduled for Friday, 23 October 2026. LatestLY and CricTracker both list the venue as the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, with a start time of 5:00 pm Gulf Standard Time, equivalent to 6:30 pm in India, according to LatestLY's broadcast listing. Other trackers give a different location: The Sports Encounter and the Wikipedia tournament summary list the Sharjah Cricket Stadium as the final's venue. NIVΞCTOR could not independently resolve the discrepancy between these outlets at the time of writing.

How Afghanistan reached the final

Afghanistan won both of their round-robin matches to finish top of the three-team table. They beat Zimbabwe by 158 runs — Wikipedia's tournament page dates the match to 19 October, while Ariana News reported it as 20 October — posting 294 all out before bowling Zimbabwe out for 136 in 38.4 overs, according to Ariana News. Opener Sediqullah Atal scored 102, described by Ariana News as his third ODI century, and put on a 140-run second-wicket partnership with Ibrahim Zadran, who made 90. Leg-spinner Rashid Khan took 4 for 17 in that innings, a figure confirmed by both Ariana News and sports outlet A-Sports.

Afghanistan then beat Bangladesh by seven wickets on 21 October at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, chasing down a target of 161 for the loss of three wickets after bowling Bangladesh out for 160, according to The Sports Encounter. Captain Rahmat Shah finished unbeaten on 67 off 90 balls, while Rashid Khan took 4 for 31 and was named Player of the Match. The win eliminated Bangladesh and sent Afghanistan into the final with 4 points from two wins.

Zimbabwe's route to the final

Zimbabwe opened the tri-series with a 99-run win over Bangladesh on 17 October, making 271 for 8 and restricting Bangladesh to 172, according to the Wikipedia tournament summary. Craig Ervine top-scored with 93 in that innings.

Zimbabwe then lost heavily to Afghanistan, reduced to 43 for 4 before being bowled out for 136; captain Sikandar Raza top-scored with 48, according to Ariana News and A-Sports. Despite that defeat, their single win over Bangladesh was enough to finish second in the three-team table on 2 points, with winless Bangladesh eliminated and Afghanistan topping the group.

Form and history going into the final

Rashid Khan has taken eight wickets across Afghanistan's two group matches — 4 for 17 against Zimbabwe and 4 for 31 against Bangladesh. CricTracker's pre-match analysis put Afghanistan's overall head-to-head ODI record against Zimbabwe at 21 wins to Zimbabwe's 10 from 32 previous matches, and rated Afghanistan 65% favourites to win the final against Zimbabwe's 35%.

• Afghanistan: unbeaten in the group stage, 294 vs Zimbabwe and 161/3 vs Bangladesh (Ariana News; The Sports Encounter).
• Zimbabwe: one win (beat Bangladesh by 99 runs) and one defeat (lost to Afghanistan by 158 runs) (Wikipedia; Ariana News).
• Key batters: Sediqullah Atal (102), Ibrahim Zadran (90) and Rahmat Shah (67*) for Afghanistan; Craig Ervine (93) and Sikandar Raza (48) for Zimbabwe.
• Key bowler: Rashid Khan, 8 wickets in 2 matches, including Player of the Match award vs Bangladesh.