Welcome to Sportstar’s live coverage of Day 5 of the first Test between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan at the Queen’s Sports Club Ground in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
ZIM vs AFG – First Test Scorecard
Day 4 Report
Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi was unbeaten on 179 runs as Afghanistan trailed Zimbabwe by 71 runs after four rain-shortened days on Sunday.
He and double centurion Rahmat Shah put on 364 for the third wicket with the latter scoring a career-high 234 at Queens Sports Club.
Zimbabwe won the toss and were all out for 586 in their first innings. Afghanistan responded 515-3 when rain intervened, prohibiting play after 1pm local time.
Umpires waited nearly four hours before calling off the playoffs, increasing the likelihood of a draw in a game dominated by hitters.
More rain is expected for the final day on Monday as both teams are looking for their first Test win since they beat each other in the series in Abu Dhabi three years ago.
Related: Rahmat Shah records highest individual score by any Afghanistan batsman in Test history.
Shah, on 231, added three runs to his personal best overnight before taking an outside-off advantage off the bowling of Test debutant Newman Nyamhuri. Ben Curran caught the ball in the gully.
The departure of Shah, who hit three sixes and 23 fours in a 424-ball stand, brought no respite to the six-man Zimbabwe attack.
The cautious Shahidi continued to bat effectively while hitting 18 fours. He is 22 runs short of his career-best Test total after hitting an unbeaten 200 against Zimbabwe three years ago.
The skipper got good support from Afsar Zazai, who scored an unbeaten 46. The wicketkeeper faced 87 deliveries and hit a six and three fours.
Medium pacer Trevor Gwandu took the wicket of opener Sediqullah Atal for three. However, he was the most expensive home bowler, conceding 107 runs.
Afghanistan won the Twenty20 and one-day international series in Zimbabwe ahead of the first of the two Tests. The second is scheduled to begin on January 2nd.
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squad
Zimbabwe: Craig Irvine (c), Brian Bennett, Jonathan Campbell, Takuzwa Chataira, Ben Curran, Joylord Gumby, Trevor Gwandu, Takuzwanashe Kaitano, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Brandon Mabuta, Nyasha Mayabo, Blessing Mujara. Barney, Dion Myers, Richard Ngaraba, Newman Nyamuri, Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams.
Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Abdul Malik, Afsar Jazai, Azmatullah Omarzai, Bahir Shah, Bashir Ahmad, Farid Ahmad, AM Ghazanfar, Ikram Alihil, Ismat Alam, Navid Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Rashid Khan, Riaz Hasan, Sediqullah Atal, Yameen Ahmadzai, Zahir Khan, Zahir Shehzad, Zia ur Rehman.
