Yuen-Chan
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Afghanistan made a late dash towards forcing a result but ran out of time. © Zimbabwe Cricket
A late push for an unlikely win from Afghanistan was thwarted by Zimbabwe towards the end of the final day's play as the teams settled for a draw in the opening Test in Bulawayo.
The Test that was clearly heading for a draw with both teams putting up massive first-innings totals, suddenly sparked some interest right at the end with Afghanistan picking up a few wickets but the experienced duo of Sean Williams and Craig Ervine ensured that it ended in a stalemate. When play began on the fifth day, it was only a matter of time before Afghanistan fetched the first innings lead.
Hashmatullah Shahidi and Afsar Zazai continued to pile on the runs and eventually, the skipper brought up his second double century in Test cricket. Zazai then became the third Afghanistan player in the game to reach three figures as Zimbabwe looked clueless on the field. While Williams finally managed to end the massive stand, Shahid carried on further before getting dismissed four short of 250.
The skipper's dismissal though triggered an incredible collapse that saw the visitors lose their last five wickets in a matter of just four overs. Brian Bennett was the wrecker-in-chief as he first got rid of Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai off successive deliveries before picking three wickets in an over to bowl Afghanistan out one run short of the magical mark 700.
Even though Zimbabwe then came up with a strong reply on expected lines, Afghanistan's late collapse perhaps came as a blessing in disguise as they suddenly found an opening out of nowhere to push for a win. When Zahir Khan broke the opening stand, Zimbabwe were still trailing by 40 runs. There was then a rain delay for a while and once play resumed, the hosts needed to bat out just 14 overs. However, Ben Curran got run out and then Zahir and AM Ghazanfar struck once each to cause panic in the opposition camp. One more wicket at that stage could have really sparked life into the contest but Williams stood firm and so did Ervine. The duo had to bat out just a few overs before the captains finally settled for the draw.
Brief scores: Zimbabwe 586 (Sean William 154; AM Ghazanfar 3/127) & 142/4 (Ben Curran 41; Zahir Khan 2/43) drew with Afghanistan 699 (Hashmatullah Shahidi 246; Brian Bennett 5/95)
A late push for an unlikely win from Afghanistan was thwarted by Zimbabwe towards the end of the final day's play as the teams settled for a draw in the opening Test in Bulawayo.
The Test that was clearly heading for a draw with both teams putting up massive first-innings totals, suddenly sparked some interest right at the end with Afghanistan picking up a few wickets but the experienced duo of Sean Williams and Craig Ervine ensured that it ended in a stalemate. When play began on the fifth day, it was only a matter of time before Afghanistan fetched the first innings lead.
Hashmatullah Shahidi and Afsar Zazai continued to pile on the runs and eventually, the skipper brought up his second double century in Test cricket. Zazai then became the third Afghanistan player in the game to reach three figures as Zimbabwe looked clueless on the field. While Williams finally managed to end the massive stand, Shahid carried on further before getting dismissed four short of 250.
The skipper's dismissal though triggered an incredible collapse that saw the visitors lose their last five wickets in a matter of just four overs. Brian Bennett was the wrecker-in-chief as he first got rid of Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai off successive deliveries before picking three wickets in an over to bowl Afghanistan out one run short of the magical mark 700.
Even though Zimbabwe then came up with a strong reply on expected lines, Afghanistan's late collapse perhaps came as a blessing in disguise as they suddenly found an opening out of nowhere to push for a win. When Zahir Khan broke the opening stand, Zimbabwe were still trailing by 40 runs. There was then a rain delay for a while and once play resumed, the hosts needed to bat out just 14 overs. However, Ben Curran got run out and then Zahir and AM Ghazanfar struck once each to cause panic in the opposition camp. One more wicket at that stage could have really sparked life into the contest but Williams stood firm and so did Ervine. The duo had to bat out just a few overs before the captains finally settled for the draw.
Brief scores: Zimbabwe 586 (Sean William 154; AM Ghazanfar 3/127) & 142/4 (Ben Curran 41; Zahir Khan 2/43) drew with Afghanistan 699 (Hashmatullah Shahidi 246; Brian Bennett 5/95)