Watch cricket video highlights of Afghanistan tour of Zimbabwe 2024. 1st Test between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe. Venue of the match will be Bulawayo.
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Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi of Afghanistan batted out a whole day of a Test match without being removed, nearly precisely a century after Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe were the first duo to do so in Test cricket. In the process, Shahidi achieved his second Test ton (141*), Rahmat became the owner of Afghanistan’s highest Test score (231*), and the two of them easily shattered the mark for Afghanistan’s best Test partnership (361). After adding 330 runs in 95 overs on the third day, Afghanistan is at 425 for 2, just 161 runs behind Zimbabwe’s 586.
Zimbabwe’s first-innings total over the first two days indicated a calm third-day surface, which it was, with the exception of the odd ball that lingered low. Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo is one of the greatest locations to bat among Test venues. Rahmat and Shahidi’s excellent defensive play forced the Zimbabwe bowlers to slog, but poor fielding also failed them down. Along with a couple half-chances, Rahmat was responsible for at least four lost receptions.
Throughout the day, the set hitters frequently pounced on the wayward deliveries from the rookie bowlers, while spin and pace failed to provide a breakthrough. Rahmat took a single in the first over of the day to reach fifty. He had started the day fresh off an overnight partnership of thirty-one and was facing a massive 491-run deficit. However, the run-scoring was controlled by some solid bowling from Trevor Gwandu and Blessing Muzarabani. Rahmat hit the opening boundary of the day after 12 overs, cutting left-arm spinner Sean Williams for four.
He would utilize this tactic against all three Zimbabwean spinners. When coming down the track against the spinners, the two could also rely on their skills because there was no variable turn off the field. Shahidi frequently performed this against Brian Bennett and Brandon Mavuta, two part-timers. Shahidi reached his half-century five overs before lunch, while Rahmat reached his second Test century two overs later. Then, in the 69th over, with Rahmat at 107 and Afghanistan at 198 for 2, came the first significant opportunity.
Rahmat’s prod provided an outside edge, Bennett got a length ball to spin less than anticipated, and the ball sailed over Craig Ervine’s left at first slip. Rahmat survived a missed opportunity at long-on on 134 and evaded two catching possibilities in a single Muzarabani over on 152. When Muzarabani and Gwandu overpitched their deliveries in between, the two found the boundary over midwicket or cover, bringing up their 200-run partnership. Afghanistan was 298 for 2 at the end of the first two sessions, having amassed 203 runs.
Following two missed opportunities in the second session’s last over, Rahmat hit three fours off Nyamhuri in the opening over of the post-tea session, further depressing Zimbabwe. Shahidi hit him for four to reach 99 during the same Nyamhuri session, and he then picked up a single to reach his second Test century. The boundaries dried up once more as the second new ball grew stale, but Rahmat’s four through cover to begin the 108th over raised the 300-run partnership.
The pair tipped over to 308, setting a new record for Afghanistan, just after Rahmat reached 199 with a single. The only double-centurion for Afghanistan in the past, Shahidi, then watched from the other end as Rahmat joined him on that list. Rahmat’s contribution was a full-blooded drive through mid-on rather than a cautious single. Rahmat was cheered by his teammates and the small home audience as the ball slid to the boundary. He also broke Shahidi’s 2021 mark of 200* to take the Afghanistan record for the highest individual score.
Ervine tried to buy a wicket or make the two batters do something different by using some odd fielding positions, but there was no budge as the last hour of the day approached and Zimbabwe realized they might have their first-ever day of Test cricket without a single wicket. Rahmat and Shahidi, if anything, controlled their movements. Their goal was obviously to end the day undefeated, since they only managed three boundaries in the last 13 overs—three fours and one six. Williams bowled the day’s last over without any controversy, and Rahmat and Shahidi returned smiling, greeted by a standing ovation from their teammates and support personnel, and complimented by a few Zimbabwe fielders.
