zimbabwe 0 on 6 (Gumbi 4*, Curran 1*) Trail afghanistan 157 (Rashid 25, Raza 3-30, Nyamauri 3-42, Muzarabani 2-56) by 151 runs
It took Zimbabwe 197 overs and more than two days to take Afghanistan’s ten wickets in the opening Test. A few days later, at the same venue, Zimbabwe needed just 44.3 overs and less than two sessions to bowl out Afghanistan for 157 and take early control of the second Test in Bulawayo.
Conditions were very different at the start of the opening day, with persistent rain falling between both teams and the toss being delayed by nearly four hours.
When conditions improved, Craig Erwin had no hesitation in bowling first on what his opposite number Hashmatullah Shahidi described as a “spicy pitch”. Zimbabwe made two changes to their final eleven from the first Test, adding Richard Ngarawa and Raza, while Afghanistan made five changes to their team. This included handing Test debuts to Farid Ahmed, Riaz Hasan and Ismat Alam.
Bulawayo’s pitch was green, but Muzarabani and Ngarawa failed to get much movement due to short pitches. Afghanistan’s openers Abdul Malik and Riaz looked largely in a hurry and could score only 25 runs in the first ten overs.
But a moment of brilliance on the field gave the hosts the lead. Riaz pushed Nagarava’s full delivery to the right of point and went for a run, but Malik sent it back too late. Riaz, who was about halfway down the pitch, came back quickly, but Bennett ran to his right, picked up the ball with one hand and in one swift motion broke the stump at the striker’s end to catch the batsman short.
In the next over, Nyamahuri got a short length ball to chase back quickly, which went through the gloves of Malik and reached the wicketkeeper.
Shahidi and Rahmat Shah, who had put up a record partnership in the opening Test, then tried to arrest the collapse. Shahidi started with a powerful cut on Muzarabani to backward point, while Rahmat also hit a boundary, albeit a powerful boundary to the left of the wicketkeeper.
Rahmat then hit two more fours off Muzarabani, but got a reprieve when he got a thick outside edge off Ngarava to Dion Myers, who took a relatively comfortable catch at gully. Thus, Shahidi and Rahmat remained unbeaten at lunch.
But it didn’t take long for Zimbabwe to attack after the break, with 18-year-old Nyamahuri once again taking out Shahidi for a boundary and trapping him in front of the stumps on 13. Officer Zazai is another centurion. First test, then came in and immediately showed its effect.
But it was Raza’s introduction into the attack that led to the downfall of Afghanistan. He varied his pace brilliantly, bowling on a wicket-to-wicket line and keeping both Rahmat and Zazai at second. Nyamahuri also stuck to a plan, and inspired several outlaws before planning Raza’s downfall.
Rehmat, unable to fend off Raza, tried to unsettle him by attempting a cheeky lap sweep. But Raza bowled the ball down the middle and Rahmat missed it and his leg stump went backwards. Ngarwa then dismissed Zazai with a snarl, before Raza clean bowled debutant Alam with a yorker, reducing Afghanistan’s score from 81 for 3 to 84 for 6 in the space of ten balls.
As Rashid Khan dismissed Raza with three back-to-back cover drives, he hit a number of strokes. Shahidullah also got his first boundary through a wrist flick. Muzarabani, who had been wandering all day, finally took the ball to a channel outside off and took a thin edge past Shahidullah’s blade to reach the wicketkeeper. After this, Rashid failed to stop a short and wide ball from Muzarabani, in which Deep Point took an easy catch.
The end was near for the visitors when Raza clean bowled Yamin Ahmedzai for his third wicket. But Zia-ur-Rehman and Farid added 27 runs a ball for the last wicket, with debutant Farid hitting a four and a six in 17 runs from 19 balls to take Afghanistan past 150.
Zimbabwe’s openers survived a tough 20-minute challenge from Afghanistan and will be looking to erase the defeat early on the second day. Only 47.3 overs could be bowled on the first day due to rain and a wet outfield, but the Test has already progressed at a brisk pace.
Ashish Pant is sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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