Rahmat Shah’s gutsy century, his third in Test cricket, was the highlight of Afghanistan considerably better batting performance from their first innings, which helped them pull themselves to an advantage on an attritional third day.
But with three wickets left on Saturday, Rahmat, with assistance from Shahidullah and rookie Ismat Aslam, increased Afghanistan’s advantage to 200 before rain forced early stumping.
Zimbabwe knows that with Ismat still at the crease and Rashid Khan, who can score some quick runs, they will be facing a steep chase on a pitch where batting fourth is a difficult task. Richard Ngarava also took two wickets, including the valuable scalp of Rahmat, while Blessing Muzarabani added two to his overnight total of two.
Afghanistan was still 17 runs down after losing two wickets in the opening hour of play, so the two gathered together.
Rahmat made it clear early in the day that he intended to bat long so Afghanistan might gain a competitive edge. Before hitting the first run of the day, he played out 19 balls.
Ngarava dismissed Afsar Zazai shortly after removing the nightwatcher Zia-ur-Rehman the very next ball.
Rahmat took the initiative as a result, driving down the ground for boundaries after Muzarabani mishandled two balls in a row, a full toss and a half-volley.
After a brief delay due to rain, the two played singles until the 30th over, when Afghanistan took the lead.
Before Rahmat reached a half-century off 99 balls, he and Shahidullah hit two boundaries off the following two overs against Sikandar Raza and Newman Nyamhuri. As the two lumbered to lunch with a 39-run advantage, the boundaries continued to come.
Craig Ervine sent on a stupid point fielder after Muzarabani tested him outside off from behind the wicket. Shahidullah then fended off a length ball in the corridor to give Takudzwanashe Kaitano the easiest of opportunities at silly point.
Zimbabwe was aware that they needed to seize the chance and tighten their grip on Afghanistan.
When Ismat attempted to duck under a Muzarabani bouncer that remained low, he took a knock to the helmet and required many physio examinations over the course of the following few overs. Ismat was out without scoring in the first innings.
Raza, who worked hard for 23 wicketless overs during the day, got one to spin in sharply to hit his pad, but the umpire rejected it, saving Rahmat from an LBW opportunity.
The two, however, were undeterred and continued to expand Afghanistan’s advantage. After his double in the first Test, Rahmat reached his century with a single of Nyamhuri off 209 balls.
Before tea, Ismat, who was at 16 off 46 at the time, began to change tactics by setting two limits off Nyamhuri.
There were eleven straight overs of spin after tea, but neither Raza nor Bennett were able to establish themselves or control the scoring pace to exert pressure.
Ervine dropped Ngarava at first slip, three runs short of his fifty, after he had taken the advantage from Ismat. Ismat brought up a half-century one over later.
Before Muzarabani smashed the record at 132, the highest score for Afghanistan’s seventh wicket, the set batsmen took advantage of the new ball’s additional pace to cash in on a couple more boundaries.
Rahmat was not happy when the umpire had called him out the previous leg, but he had to walk back after a long innings because there was no DRS available in this series.
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