Suburban
Afghanistan 545 for 4 dec (Shahidi 200*, Afghan 164, Zadran 72, Jamal 55*) vs Zimbabwe
Firdose Moonda
Hashmatullah Shahidi became the first Afghanistan batsman to score a double-hundred, in addition to joining his captain Asghar Afghan and Rahmat Shah as the only three players from the country to reach triple figures in Tests, as Afghanistan piled on the fifth-highest total in Abu Dhabi. He overtook his captain Asghar Afghan’s 164 to register the first double-century for Afghanistan.
On a flat pitch, Afghanistan breached 500 and set several other batting records including the second-biggest partnership for any wicket in the UAE.
Shahidi and Afghan shared in a fourth-wicket stand of 307, Afghanistan’s highest, before a 117-run partnership between Shahidi and Nasir Jamal took Afghanistan more than 200 runs past their previous highest total of 342.
Afghan called his batsmen in after 160.4 overs, as soon as Shahidi reached the milestone. It came off the 443rd ball he faced, with a nudge behind square. Jamal was celebrating even as he completed the run and Shahidi joined in soon after. Though the match is played behind closed doors, he received a standing ovation from his team-mates and the support staff.
Zimbabwe will have to face 16 overs to the close and their biggest challenge will be legspinner Rashid Khan, who recovered from a finger injury to play this match.
Zimbabwe have largely been spectators to proceedings as Afghan and Shahidi became the first Afghan batsmen to cross 150 in Test cricket, within an hour of each other. The pair, who had been batting together since the 42nd over midway through the second session on day one, were separated 50 minutes into the second session on day two when Sikandar Raza had Afghan trapped lbw. Afghan was forward to defend a ball that pitched on middle and would have, at least, gone on to clip leg stump. That was Zimbabwe’s only success on the day after they dropped two catches in the morning session but were unable to create many chances on a flat pitch.
Knowing that conditions were unlikely to offer them anything, Zimbabwe concentrated on discipline in the first hour and were successful in squeezing Afghanistan early on. They gave away just 23 runs in the first hour when Blessing Muzarabani adjusted his length to bowl fuller and Victor Nyauchi found some movement. Once Afghan and Shahidi had seen them off, runs flowed easily and milestones were ticked off.
Shahidi, who had been on 86 overnight, reached his hundred with a drive through point and celebrated with gusto, not least because this is his comeback series after being dropped for the match against West Indies in November 2019. Then, the criticism of Shahidi was that he did not score quickly enough and though it took him 276 balls to bring up his century in this innings, he cannot be accused of a go-slow. His innings was perfectly paced and he complemented the more aggressive style of Afghan well. Shahidi now holds Afghanistan’s highest individual score.
After reaching the hundred, Shahidi took boundaries off Donald Tiripano and Sean Williams, and then offered Zimbabwe their first chance of the morning. He was on 112 when he drove a ball back to Williams, which he could have taken at shoulder height, but the Zimbabwe captain only got fingertips to it before the ball tumbled out. Williams had another opportunity in his next over, when Afghan, on 124, sliced a drive to point. Kevin Kasuza should have taken a simple grab but could not hold on.
Five overs after lunch, Afghan reached his 150 with a single to deep backward square and seemed set for many more. But Raza had a confident appeal for lbw off a delivery that turned in sharply and may have missed leg stump turned down, then Ryan Burl appealed for one that was clearly down leg, and four overs after that Afghan was dismissed.
At that point, he held Afghanistan’s highest score,164.
Afghanistan scored 40 runs in the first 15 overs after lunch before Afghan’s dismissal, and showed no real signs of accelerating thereafter. Hashmatullah’s 150 came off 382nd ball he faced, he drew level with Afghan when he sent a Williams’ full toss to long-on before overtaking his captain with a single in the same area. Nasir Jamal, on the other end, quietly collected 33 runs of his own and his partnership with Hashmatullah swelled to 68.
Without much evidence of turn and the surface continuing to flatten, Afghanistan will now need to consider how much time they want to give themselves to bowl Zimbabwe out twice, especially with Hashmatullah 36 runs away from a double-hundred. In anticipation of the innings ending, he started to play a few shots as the tea break neared and may be given a few more overs in the third session to set yet another record, before Afghanistan ask Zimbabwe to begin their reply. — www.espncricinfo.com
