Match Summary: Zimbabwe 130 for 2 (Curran 52*, Welch 49, Ziaur 2-35) lead Afghanistan 127 (Gurbaz 37, Evans 5-22, Muzarabani 3-47) by 3 runs.
HOSTS Zimbabwe seized a commanding position on Day 1 of the once-off Test against Afghanistan yesterday, ending the day with a narrow lead and eight wickets still in hand, thanks to a sensational bowling display led by Brad Evans and a composed batting effort.
Zimbabwe, having won the toss and opted to bowl first, initially endured a slow start but quickly capitalised on their decision to skittle Afghanistan for a meager 127 all out.
The star of the show was pace bowler Brad Evans, who claimed his first Test Cricket five-wicket haul with magnificent figures of 5/22 from 9.3 Overs.
Despite the early solidity from the Afghanistan opening pair of Ibrahim Zadran (19) and Abdul Malik (30), who put on a 23-run stand, the middle order collapsed under pressure.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz top-scored for the visitors with 37, but wickets tumbled around him.
Evans received excellent support from the experienced Blessing Muzarabani, who bagged 3 wickets for 47 from 11 Overs, while Tanaka Chivanga took one wicket. The other dismissal was a run-out.
At the close of play, Zimbabwe had reached 130 for 2, leading Afghanistan by 3 runs.
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The hosts' innings was anchored by opener Ben Curran, who struck his second Test half-century with a well-calculated 52 not out from 110 balls.
Curran put on a solid partnership with Nick Welch, who was unlucky to be dismissed for 49, one run short of what would have been his fourth Test half-century.
Zimbabwe looked briefly troubled early on when Brian Bennett was dismissed for six runs with the score on 9. However, the recovery was clinical.
Ziaur Rahman took the two wickets for Afghanistan, finishing with figures of 2-35.
Curran (52*) and veteran Brendan Taylor (18)* were the batsmen at the crease when bad light stopped play.
Brad Evans was understandably delighted with the day's performance and his milestone.
“So, four days left of this test match and as we've seen on plenty of occasions before not just with Zimbabwe but with any any Test playing nation is that momentum shifts,” he said.
“So we're just so driven to to focus on the ball-by-ball process like I spoke about and just take it one ball at a time. We're just going to try and capitalise on that going forward.”
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi admitted his team struggled after a long break from the longest format.
“As you guys know that we didn't play Test Cricket for a long time. Since we played last, that was in Zimbabwe, 10 months ago so it always difficult to start like after 10 months. But honestly, today was not our day as a team. So, Inshallah, we will try our best to come back,” he said.
Day 2 continues this morning.
