daniel chigunwe
Brandon Moyo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE squandered an early advantage on Day 3 of the historic inaugural New Year’s Day Test match against Afghanistan at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo yesterday.
The visitors ended the day with a commanding lead, putting them in control as the match heads into the final two days.
At the resumption of play yesterday, Afghanistan were wobbling on 46/3, trailing by 40 runs.
By stumps, however, they had taken a 205-run lead with three wickets still in hand.
Once again, the Chevrons were made to rue their dropped catches, as Rahmat Shah and debutant Ismat Alam capitalised with a century stand for the seventh wicket.
Shah scored his sixth Test century, while Alam brought up his maiden half-century in the longest format, piling pressure on the Zimbabweans.
At stumps, Afghanistan were 291/7, with Alam and Rashid Khan at the crease.
Speaking after the end of play, Blessing Muzarabani said the game is still within their reach and is confident they will be able to get a win as the wicket is slowly getting better with time. He gave credit to Shah for the way he batted throughout his time in the middle.
“They batted well,” said Muzarabani.
“We wanted to get early wickets, but Rahmat batted really well, so we just had to be patient.
“Test match is all about patience, so we are happy that we ended up getting a breakthrough.
“I feel like we bowled really well; the wicket is getting better, so the game is actually in our hands at the moment.”
Zimbabwe had made a promising start to the morning, striking early, as Richard Ngarava dismissed Zia-ur-Rehman for six runs, leaving Afghanistan on 55/4, trailing by 31 runs after 20.4 overs.
Ngarava struck again in the 25th over, with the advantage shifting in Zimbabwe’s favour.
The left-arm fast bowler had Afsar Zazai caught for five runs by Dion Myers, leaving Afghanistan on 69/5, trailing by 16 runs.
It was in the 48th over that Zimbabwe broke a 69-run sixth-wicket partnership between Shah and Shahidullah, as Muzarabani had the latter caught at silly point for 22 runs. This brought Alam to the crease, with Afghanistan now 136/6, leading by 50 runs.
Despite being dropped on several occasions, Shah and Alam made the Zimbabwean bowlers toil.
Shah reached his sixth Test century off 209 balls in the 66th over, with Afghanistan’s lead now 95 runs.
While on 47, Alam was dropped by Zimbabwean captain Craig Ervine, and he went on to score his maiden half-century just a few deliveries later.
Muzarabani gave Zimbabwe the much-needed breakthrough in the 88th over, trapping Shah in front for 139 runs off 275 deliveries.
The lanky fast bowler broke the 132-run stand for the seventh wicket.
By the time the wicket fell, Afghanistan’s lead had grown to 182 runs, and Rashid Khan walked to the crease.
Play was then called off due to bad light and the imminent threat of rain, which began soon after the players had walked off.
At stumps, Alam was on 64 runs from 122 balls, while Khan had made 25 runs off as many deliveries.
Muzarabani’s figures stood at 4/71 from 22 overs, while Ngarava had 2/47 from 19 overs. The other wicket was taken by Sikandar Raza.
Play will resume at 9.30am today, the fourth day.
