afghanistan 157 and 46 for 3 (Rahmat 18*, Muzarabani 2-17) trail zimbabwe 243 (Ervine 75, Raza 61, Williams 49, Rashid 4-94) by 40 runs
Zimbabwe and Afghanistan battled for the lead with the hosts narrowly ahead on a fast-paced day of Test cricket in Bulawayo.
Two hundred and eighty-three runs were scored and 13 wickets fell on the second day, where the rhythm between the two teams was seen, due to which the test reached a critical stage.
The pitch had a lot to offer for the bowlers in the morning and Zimbabwe started with great discipline. But Joylord Gamby’s patience did not last long and he edged Farid Ahmed as Abdul Malik took a good low catch at second slip.
After this, Yamin Ahmadzai caught Takudzwanashe Kaitano on the leg side and took two wickets in two overs.
As Ben Curran started to pick up the pace with a few fours off both Afghanistan fast bowlers, Farid trapped him in front with an in-ducker, with Curran playing on the wrong line.
Afghanistan put immediate pressure on Zimbabwe’s No. 5 Dion Myers, who was promoted because Williams had been nursing a back injury since Thursday. With a catch at mid-on, Myers worked his way out of trouble. He drove Ahmadzai down the ground for the boundary, but missed an attempt to cut it short and wide, leaving Afghanistan at 41 for 4.
There could have been five runs on the next ball when Farid pulled an outside ball from Raza – who was on seven – only to have a regulation catch dropped at first slip. Riaz Hasan’s drop proved costly. Raza hit successive fours off Ahmedzai – a brilliant on-drive followed by cut through point.
Raza and Erwin soon added 71 runs for the fourth wicket, relying mostly on singles, while Raza hit the occasional boundary. Raza, playing his first Test since 2021, brought up his half-century by smashing two runs to Rashid Khan through cover in the second over after lunch.
In the next over, Raza got another stroke of luck when he missed a pull to the left of deep square leg, but Ismat Alam allowed the ball to slip through his hands, much to Farid’s disappointment for the second time in the day.
However, Raza could only add eight more runs to his total as Hashmatullah Shahidi brought Zia-ur-Rehman into the attack. Rashid changed ends and Raza missed a sweep on the very first ball against the left-arm spinner.
Rashid also looked sharp from the other end and soon had Brian Bennett wrongly caught at the inside edge. It was once again a success for Rasheed as he got the better of Newman Nyamauri.
Zimbabwe were still ten runs behind Afghanistan’s first innings score and Williams, who had come in to bat at number 9, and Erwin hit two fours off Rashid and Ahmadzai respectively in the next two overs to give Zimbabwe the lead.
With Williams struggling with his back pain, Ahmadzai targeted him with short balls and almost had a caught-and-bowled chance in the 52nd over, but missed the ball. A ball later, Williams took another short ball and crashed it through midwicket, but in the process he went down on his knees, holding his back.
Williams then decided to go on the attack and lofted Rashid to mid-on before edging Ahmadzai past mid-off twice in an over. In the next over of Ahmadzai, Williams hit two consecutive fours. Erwin, who was happy to play a second innings at the other end, brought up his half-century in the final over before tea.
Zimbabwe made a positive start to the final session, with Williams hitting Ziya for the fourth boundary over mid-off in the second over after tea. But in the next over, Rashid got the wrong opportunity to spin as Williams looked to turn it down the leg side. There was hardly any noise but Rashid appealed loudly for a catch behind the wicket. However, the umpires did not agree, and Williams, who was batting on 49, was gone.
Zimbabwe coach Justin Sammons, speaking about Williams after the day’s play, said, “Obviously the medical staff have been working really hard to get him on the park today, they’ve done a fantastic job out there and we feel so Will have to continue to do.” ‘ Previous issue.
“It’s going to be tough, he’s in a lot of pain, but he showed tremendous courage to go out there and he showed who he is and what playing for Zimbabwe means to him. You can see it in the way he plays Is his business.
“I can’t think too far ahead, obviously we will go step by step with him. We will try to get him in the best physical condition as we move forward in this test.”
When play resumed after a short break due to rain, Irwin tried to strike, but Ngarawa convinced his captain to take a run on the second ball of the 71st over, but Ahmedzai’s length ball dismissed him. Gave, which remained low.
Erwin took on Rashid in the next over, first coming down the pitch to ground him down and then slogging him over square leg for back-to-back sixes.
However, in another attempt at a slog sweep from Rashid in the next over, Irwin was out to deep-backward square leg. Zimbabwe now had a lead of 86 runs in the first innings.
Afghanistan’s second innings had a very bad start. Abdul Malik shined at a full ball and took it down gully where Curran dropped him, before Ngarawa caught the ball close to Malik’s outside edge before a strong appeal was turned down.
In the next over, Muzarabani took an edge off Malik, with the ball bouncing to mid-on. In the eighth over, Muzarabani struck again when he edged Hasan Riaz behind to take the score to 18 for 2.
Shahidi and Rahmat Shah, who scored double centuries in the previous match, then tried to contain the bowlers, but Raza gave Zimbabwe a late lead with a beautiful offbreak, which took the outside edge and crashed into the middle of the pitch before turning away. Has gone. Stump removed the Afghanistan captain in the final over of the day.
Abhimanyu Bose is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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