Zimbabwe Record Test Totals Against Afghanistan
Zimbabwe rewrote the Test cricket record books, becoming the first team to score more than 500 runs in both innings of the same match. Zimbabwe’s record Test totals came against Afghanistan. Although the match ended in a draw, the achievement is likely to stay with cricket fans and observers for a long time.
Zimbabwe Achieved Record Test Totals Against Afghanistan
Afghanistan and Zimbabwe began their UAE tour on 27 October with a three-match T20I series, which Afghanistan won 3-0. Two Test matches followed. The first has already produced a remarkable result: Zimbabwe’s strong performance against Afghanistan brought the team record Test totals. A record like this was bound to fall sooner or later, but few would have expected Zimbabwe to set it so soon.
In the Test between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, played from 5 to 9 November, Zimbabwe scored 504 runs in their first innings and then declared at 523/5 in their second. Their combined total of 1,027 runs ranks fourth highest in Test history. Zimbabwe became the seventh team to pass 1,000 runs across its two innings in a Test. Before this match, the team’s highest combined total was 885, set back in 2000.
The match also brought several individual milestones for the African side. Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine scored 206, becoming the third-oldest player to make a double century in Test cricket. He was 41 years and 82 days old. The other two were Jack Hobbs, who did it at 41 years and 195 days in 1924, and Eric Rowan, who scored a double century in 1951 at the age of 42 years and six days. Ervine also passed the 2,000-run mark in his Test career.
Wessly Madhevere made a century of his own, the first of his career. Newman Nyamhuri added a five-wicket haul to his record, also the first of his career. Zimbabwe’s batting line-up had three players score both a hundred and a fifty in the match: Madhevere, Brian Bennett and Brendan Taylor.
Zimbabwe Record Test Totals Keep the Series Against Afghanistan Alive
Zimbabwe had a tough time in the 20-over matches: the team failed to win any of them, losing the series 3-0. Both sides made changes to their line-ups for the Tests, and the first match went much better for Zimbabwe, even though it ended in a draw. Zimbabwe’s record Test totals against Afghanistan have kept the series finely poised ahead of the final match.
All the matches in the series are being played at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The pitch came in for criticism for being unresponsive, making life difficult for the bowlers. Even before the fifth day of the first Test began, some experts were predicting a draw. Zimbabwe was unsure what the total would be enough. Brian Bennett simply decided to wear down the opposition in the heat. Afghanistan stood firm, while Zimbabwe’s persistence brought them a record-breaking score.
The teams will meet again at the same ground from 13 to 17 November. The result will decide the winner of the two-match Test series, provided the next game produces a winner and does not end in another draw. A victory would give Zimbabwe a chance to make amends for their T20I defeats.
