Rain halts play on day four Test

THE fourth day of the Boxing Day Test between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo was marred by persistent rain, prematurely ending play in the afternoon.

Only two overs were bowled after lunch before the rain began, resulting in the match being called off for the day with two sessions remaining on the penultimate day.

With just a day left, the game is most likely to end in a draw. Afghanistan displayed strong batting, ending the day on 515/3 from 156 overs, trailing Zimbabwe by just 71 runs.

Afghanistan had resumed day four with an overnight score of 425/2 (125 overs) and added 90 runs for the loss of one wicket.
Debutant Newman Nyamhuri (18) broke the 364-run partnership between Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi early in the day.

Nyamhuri had Shah caught at gully by Ben Curran for 234 runs off 424 deliveries, having added just three runs to his overnight score.

**Ground staff at Queens Sports Club putting covers after play was halted by rain on day four of the Boxing Day Test match between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan in Bulawayo yesterday**

Shah now holds the record for Afghanistan’s highest individual Test score and is one of only two batters from the country to have scored a double century in the longest format of the game.

Captain Shahidi was closing in on another massive score, ending the day on 179 runs from 367 balls, batting alongside Asfar Zazai, who was also nearing his maiden Test half-century, on 46 runs from 87 deliveries.

The fourth-wicket partnership of Shahidi and Zazai had reached 87 runs by the close of play. Afghanistan’s score of 515/3 is now their second-highest score with their highest being 545/4 (declared) against Zimbabwe in 2021.

Trevor Gwandu, Zimbabwe’s debutant, has conceded 107 runs from 24 overs, including one maiden and one wicket. The other wicket-taker is Blessing Muzarabani, with figures of 1/52. Sean Williams and Brandon Mavuta have both conceded 98 runs from 34 and 27 overs respectively. Nyamhuri has given away 82 runs in 23 overs, while Brian Bennett has conceded 57 runs from 20 overs.

The game will be followed by Zimbabwe’s inaugural New Year’s Test.

To date, the country has hosted only one Boxing Day Test, when Zimbabwe faced England in 1996 in a drawn match severely affected by rain at Harare Sports Club.

Since then, Zimbabwe has only played two other Boxing Day Tests — against New Zealand in Wellington in 2000 and against South Africa in the inaugural pink-ball, day-night, four-day Test in Port Elizabeth in 2017.

Zimbabwe also played Sri Lanka in a Test that started on December 27, 2001, in Colombo. Zimbabwe has never played a New Year’s Test, either at home or abroad.

Play will resume at 9.30am today for the final day. — @brandon_malvin.