Ben Curran’s unbeaten fifty put Zimbabwe in control at the end of the opening day.
Blessing Muzarabani set the tone early by removing Ibrahim Zadran in the sixth over, but it was Brad Evans who stole the spotlight. The pacer delivered a career-best spell to bowl out Afghanistan for under 150, giving Zimbabwe the upper hand. In reply, Curran’s unbeaten half-century helped his team take the lead.
In the one-off Test in Harare on Monday, Zimbabwe bowled out Afghanistan for just 127 runs and closed the day on 130 for 2, leading by three runs when bad light ended play 17 overs early. Curran remained unbeaten on 52 off 108 balls with five fours, while veteran Brendan Taylor was on 18.
Evans was the star of the day, claiming his maiden Test five-wicket haul with figures of 5 for 22. Muzarabani provided solid support, taking 3 for 47.
Afghanistan had made a confident start after being put in to bat, with Ibrahim Zadran looking solid before Muzarabani trapped him for 19. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Abdul Malik then steadied the innings with a 54-run stand, but once that partnership was broken, the visitors collapsed dramatically — losing 9 wickets for just 50 runs.
Gurbaz (37) was dismissed early in the second session, followed quickly by Malik (30), who was run out. None of the remaining Afghan batters managed to reach 15 runs.
Evans ripped through the middle and lower order, removing Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afsar Zazai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Khalil Gurbaz, and Ziaur Rahman in a devastating spell that saw Afghanistan bundled out for 127.
In reply, Zimbabwe lost Brian Bennett early for 6, bowled by Ziaur Rahman. But Ben Curran and Nick Welch steadied the innings with a 97-run stand. Welch fell one short of his fifty, bowled by Ziaur after hitting a six and five fours, but Curran continued confidently alongside Taylor to guide Zimbabwe safely to stumps.
Brief Scores
Afghanistan 1st innings: 127 all out (Gurbaz 37, Malik 30, Evans 5-22, Muzarabani 3-47)
Zimbabwe 1st innings: 130/2 (Curran 52*, Welch 49, Ziaur 2-35)
