2nd Test, Day 2: Zimbabwe on top against Afghanistan
What's the story
Afghanistan are trailing by 180 runs with four wickets remaining against Zimbabwe. The latter posted a total of 339 runs after resuming from an overnight score of 250/5. The innings was anchored by Brendan Taylor, who scored a century (119) off 171 balls, hitting 12 fours and a six along the way. Brad Evans also contributed with an unbeaten knock of 32 runs to help extend Zimbabwe's total.
Bowling brilliance
Naseer Khan Maroofkhil picks up 7 wickets on debut
Afghanistan's debutant left-arm spinner Naseer Khan Maroofkhil was the star of the show with his bowling.
He added three wickets to his tally from day one, taking his total to seven.
He dismissed Taylor early in the morning session and then struck twice in consecutive deliveries in the 110th over, trapping Graeme Cremer LBW before bowling Vincent Masekesa with a delivery that spun past his bat and hit off stump.
Batting struggles
Afghanistan lose 6 wickets in response
Afghanistan's response with the bat was far from ideal as they fell to 27/2 in the first 10 overs.
They reached tea at 54/2 but lost wickets at regular intervals after crossing the century mark in the 27th over.
By stumps, they were six down with Afsar Zazai unbeaten on 33 and Naseer on three.
Rahmanullah Zadran (34), Hashmatullah Shahidi (30), and Rahmat Shah (30) got starts before faltering.
Zimbabwe's bowlers shared the wickets, with Blessing Muzarabani taking three and Masekesa claiming two.
Knock
8th Test hundred for Taylor
Taylor continued to bat well at one end and returned unbeaten on 96 on Day 1.
On Day 2, he slammed a hundred before eventually departing for 119 off 217 balls with the help of 14 fours and a six.
The series opener saw Taylor surpass 2,500 runs in the longest format for Zimbabwe.
He owns 2,752 runs from 39 matches (75 innings) while averaging 38.76. The veteran's tally includes eight hundreds and 13 fifties.
Do you know?
10,000 runs in First-Class cricket
During his stay, Taylor also went past 10,000 runs in First-Class cricket. The batter now has 10,003 runs from 142 matches (255 innings) at 41-plus. He clocked his 34th hundred in FC cricket (50s: 37), as per Cricinfo.
Naseer
Naseer joins these names with seven wickets on debut
Naseer finished with seven wickets for 151 runs across 44 overs (12 maidens), becoming only the second Afghan bowler to claim a seven-wicket haul on Test debut, as per Cricinfo.
He joined fast bowler Ziaur Rahman, who accomplished 7/97 during the Harare Test match against Zimbabwe in October last year.
Rashid Khan (7/66 vs Zimbabwe, 2025 and 7/137 vs Zimbabwe, 2021) is the only other Afghan bowler to claim seven wickets in an innings.