Delhi: The one-off Test match being played between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan at Harare Sports Club started from 20 October. The first day of the match was entirely in the name of Zimbabwe. The host team first defeated Afghanistan cheaply in bowling and then made a strong start in batting.

Afghanistan’s innings disintegrated, the team was reduced to only 127

After winning the toss, Zimbabwe captain Craig Irwin decided to bowl first and his decision proved to be brilliant. The entire Afghanistan team was all out after scoring only 127 runs. For the visiting team, Rehmanullah Gurbaz scored the highest 37 runs, while Abdul Malik added 30 runs. At one time Afghanistan had lost two wickets for 77 runs, but after this there was a flurry of wickets and the team lost 9 wickets within the next 50 runs.

Zimbabwe’s fast bowler Brad Evans performed brilliantly and took five wickets. Whereas, Blessing Muzarabani took three wickets and Tanaka Chiwanga took one wicket.

Solid start for Zimbabwe, gains lead

After the brilliant performance of the bowlers, Zimbabwe’s batsmen also showed excellent performance. By the end of the day’s play, the host team had scored 130 runs at the loss of 2 wickets in 38 overs and had taken a lead of 3 runs.

Opener Ben Curran is unbeaten on 52 runs off 110 balls, while Brandon Taylor is playing on 18 runs. Ziaur Rahman Sharifi took both the wickets for Afghanistan.

Difficult challenge for Afghanistan

Afghanistan is now in a very difficult situation in the Test match. The team will need a miracle to make a comeback. However, Afghanistan has performed brilliantly in white ball cricket in the last few years. Especially, by reaching the semi-finals in the 2024 T20 World Cup, but they still have a long way to go in red ball cricket.