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Chevrons lose second Test to Afghanistan

by Kudakwashe Vhenge

By Trevor Makonyonga

The Zimbabwe national cricket team lost the second test match played in Abu Dhabi from 10-14 March by 6 wickets in a match full of records.

Afghanistan batted first and posted a humungous 545 for 4 and declared after batting for two days; these innings saw two records being crushed as the Afghani captain Hashmatullah Shahidi hit 200 not out becoming the top Afghani test scorer. The other record crushed was his fourth wicket partnership with Ashgar Afghan which went on for a massive 300 runs becoming the first ever Afghanistan triple century partnership.

Zimbabwe were put in to bat and put 287 on the board failing to avoid a follow on. It was the second innings that set up for an interesting end to the test as the Sean Williams captained side showed character with the bat. It seemed over for Zimbabwe when they were at 142 for 7 with 116 more needed; then came the record breaking eighth wicket partnership of Donald Tipano and captain Sean Williams.The partnership brought in 187 with a fierce performance that brought Zimbabwe back in contention. 

Williams (151*) saw the innings through and Donald Tiripano (95) fell short of his maiden century with five runs as he was trapped lbw by man of the match Rashid Khan. Blessing Muzarabani (17) came in to bat and he looked sharp before he was dismissed in controversial circumstances as he seemed to have padded an Amir Hamza delivery to wicket keeper Afsar Zazai for a very simple catch.

The Zimbabwe wall was finally breached at 365 bringing Afghanistan back requiring 108 in a minimum of 45 overs which they reached there in 26.1.

After the match, captain Sean Williams said that he employed short pitches hoping for cracks as it was day 5 as he hoped for a draw or a possible victory.

“It was a tactical move because the wicket was up and down and there were a lot of cracks in it. It was very hard to score with seamers bowling cross-seam and slower balls. If we had more runs on the board, we would have won the series. We had three seamers, so going into day five in the last session, they would have pulled us through,”Williams said.

He also said that his team had put itself in a tight spot which they managed to fight through but fell short.

“We got ourselves into trouble and then we managed to fight through that. We got close to the top of the mountain but didn’t quite get there. It was a good learning curve and it shows what mental and physical strength you need to get through Test matches like this,” added Williams.

The Zimbabwe captain praised his youthful squad saying that the proceedings in Abu Dhabi were a good segue way to the Pakistan tour Zimbabwe to happen in April. 

“The young guys showed a lot of fight. Being 60 minutes away from winning the series, having one hand on the trophy and going through that fighting period was extremely important for them as a learning curve. Also, the senior players pulling the team together and showing that we would do anything for each other was important.

“I think it’s a huge thing going into the Test series at home. Not only what has happened here but being at home is going to be huge, our wickets, our conditions. So yeah, I am looking forward to that series,” he said.

Zimbabwe won the first Test under two days and Afghinastan managed to level the series in the second Test. The two sides will now play in three T20I matches on March 17, 19 and 21 respectively.

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