FOR the opening two days of the ongoing Boxing Day Test between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, the Chevrons seemed primed and ready for a win.
A collective batting effort saw them post a commendable 586 runs on the board, pushing past the 500-mark for the first time in 21 years and posting their highest Test score ever. The effort eclipsed Zimbabwe’s previous best, which was a 563 for nine (declared) against the West Indies back in 2001.
While hometown boy Sean Williams emerged as the biggest story coming out of Zimbabwe’s first innings score with his 154 runs off 174 balls, there were also subplot contributions from centurions Craig Ervine (104) and Brian Bennett (110).
Debutant Ben Curran also got in the act with his half-century knock of 68 runs off 74 balls, getting the ball rolling at the top order. However, all that work and excitement were yesterday undone as the Afghanistan pair of Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi wrote their own piece of history and, in the process, helped their side claw their way back into the game.
Almost 100 years since Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe became the first pair to achieve it in Test cricket, the Afghanistan pair of Shah and Shahidi batted out a full day of a Test match without being dismissed. In the process, Rahmat became the holder of Afghanistan’s highest Test score, an unbeaten 231 runs, while Shahidi struck his second Test ton (141), and the pair comfortably broke the record for Afghanistan’s best Test partnership (361).
All in all, their addition of 330 runs across 95 overs on the third day took the Asian visitors to 425 for two. They now trail Zimbabwe by 161 runs going into today’s fourth day.
Queens Sports Club ranks as one the best places to bat among Test venues, and Zimbabwe’s first-innings score across the first two days suggested a placid third-day surface, which it was, barring the occasional ball that stayed low. The Zimbabwe bowlers were made to grind by the strong defensive game shown by Rahmat and Shahidi, but they were also let down by their fielding. There were at least four catches dropped, all off Rahmat, along with a few half-chances. Both spin and pace proved ineffective to get a breakthrough, and the set batters pounced on the loose deliveries from the inexperienced bowlers, a regular occurrence through the day.
Starting the day afresh from an overnight partnership of 31 and staring at a mammoth 491-run deficit to make up, Rahmat took a single in the first over of the day to bring up his fifty. But some disciplined bowling from Blessing Muzarabani and Trevor Gwandu kept the run-scoring in check.
It took 12 overs for the day’s first boundary when Rahmat picked up one, by cutting left-arm spinner Sean Williams for four, and it would be a ploy he would use against all three Zimbabwe spinners.
With no variable turn off the pitch, the pair could also trust their game when attacking coming down the track against the spinners, something Shahidi did often against the part-timers Brandon Mavuta and Brian Bennett.
Five overs before lunch, Shahidi brought up his half-century, and two overs later. Rahmat had completed his second Test ton.
Then came the first big chance in the 69th over, with Afghanistan at 198 for 2 and Rahmat on 107. Bennett got a length ball to turn lesser than expected, Rahmat’s prod brought an outside edge and the ball flew past Craig Ervine’s left at first slip. On 134, Rahmat would survive a dropped chance at long-on, and on 152, would escape two catching opportunities in one Muzarabani over. In between, the pair brought up their 200 stand by finding the fence through midwicket or cover when Muzarabani and Gwandu overpitched their deliveries.
And going into tea, Afghanistan were 298 for 2, with 203 runs collected in the first two sessions. It remains to be seen the tactic Afghanistan will enact during today’s play, what with the visitors trailing by 161 runs and two more full days’ worth of play still left in the match, barring any weather changes. — Cricinfo/Zimpapers Sports Hub
A result is still possible for either side, but a draw seems the likeliest of possibilities. — Cricinfo/Zimpapers Sports Hub.