Afghanistan and Zimbabwe return to the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday for the second Test of their two-match series, four days after a first Test that rewrote the record books and still finished level.
The opener, played from November 5 to 9, was drawn after Zimbabwe posted 504 and 523 for 5 against Afghanistan’s 514, the first Test in history to feature three innings of 500 or more. The match produced 1,541 runs and seven centuries, with Craig Ervine’s maiden double century, 206 not out, and Wessly Madhevere’s maiden Test hundred headlining the final day. Brendan Taylor, named player of the match for his 131 and 82, became Zimbabwe’s oldest Test centurion, while Rahmat Shah made 173, Sediqullah Atal 105 and Rahmanullah 113 for Afghanistan.
The second Test, from November 13 to 17, will be played on a different pitch at the same ground, which could finally give the bowlers something to work with after a first-Test surface that the Afghanistan camp described as very, very flat. Zimbabwe became the first team in Test history to score 500-plus in both innings of a match, yet neither side could force a result in just over 256 overs of cricket.
Both teams are expected to stay largely unchanged. Afghanistan, captained by Rahmat Shah, will again look to Atal and Abdul Malik at the top, with Hashmatullah Shahidi, Rahmanullah and Shahidullah Kamal in the middle order and Ikram Alikhil keeping wicket. Qais Ahmad, Zia-ur-Rehman Akbar and Mohammad Saleem Safi lead the bowling, with Rashid Khan and Ibrahim Zadran still rested from Test cricket on medical advice. Zimbabwe, led by 22-year-old Brian Bennett in the absence of the injured Richard Ngarava, will lean on the same batting core of Taylor, Ervine, Madhevere and Antum Naqvi, with Graeme Cremer, Newman Nyamhuri and Blessing Muzarabani carrying the bowling. Tanaka Chivanga is also out injured.
The match sits outside the World Test Championship cycle, with neither side in the top nine of the rankings, but it still carries weight. For Zimbabwe, a win would cap a long UAE tour that began with the ODI tri-series and T20Is against Afghanistan, while Afghanistan will want to show their attack can take 20 wickets on a livelier surface after toiling for one wicketless stretch after another in the opener. The first Test’s lesson was that the runs will come; the second Test will be decided by which bowling attack can finally break through. Play starts at 11:30 AM IST.
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