Zimbabwe skittles Afghanistan for 127, leads by 3 runs on Day 1
ZIMBABWE bowled out Afghanistan for 127 runs inside 32.3 overs on the first day of the one-off Test match, closing day one stumps on 130/2 and leading by three runs with eight wickets remaining in the first innings.
Opener Ben Curran is unbeaten on 52, joined by experienced batsman Brendan Taylor on 18 not out. The only casualties so far have been Brian Bennett (6) and Nick Welch (49).
Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine earlier won the toss and elected to field first, banking on his bowling arsenal. The bowling unit did not disappoint, with seamer Brad Evans claiming his maiden Test five-wicket haul for just 22 runs in 9.3 overs. Evans bowled with accuracy and precision, conceding 2.31 runs per over. He began his onslaught by taking Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi’s wicket, caught by Welch for seven runs.
This was the fourth wicket to fall as Zimbabwe made early inroads. Fellow seamer Blessing Muzarabani claimed three wickets for 47 runs from 11 overs. The towering pacer opened the floodgates inside 5.4 overs when he had Afghanistan opener Ibrahim Zadran (19) caught by Welch, leaving the visitors on 23/1. Tanaka Chivanga picked up the second wicket for the hosts when he had Rahmanullah Gurbaz caught by Sikandar Raza for 37.
A runout ensued, with Welch and Tafadzwa Tsiga combining for the dismissal of Abdul Malik (30), leaving Afghanistan reeling on 88/3 after 15.3 overs. Muzarabani returned with a vengeance, claiming the sixth and seventh wickets; Bahir Shah (12) caught by Bennett and Ismat Alam (8) caught behind by wicketkeeper Tsiga.
After that, it was an Evans show as he cleaned up the last three wickets en route to his maiden five-wicket haul. Sharafuddin Ashraf was caught by Chivanga for a duck, Khalil Gurbaz (2) was caught behind by Tsiga, before Evans uprooted Ziaur Rahman for a golden duck off the succeeding delivery.
The match continues on day two on Tuesday, with Zimbabwe looking to pile on runs on the board towards a healthy lead.
