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BRENDAN Taylor turned back the years with his seventh Test century as Zimbabwe piled up the runs on the opening day of their first Test against Afghanistan at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium yesterday.
At stumps, Zimbabwe were on 326 for five, with the duo of Wesley Madhevere and skipper Brian Bennett unbeaten and building on their sixth-wicket stand of 39 runs off 47 balls.
Bennett was unbeaten on 71 off 128 balls, while Madhevere had 29 off 31 balls. However, the day belonged to Taylor, who continues to write history since completing his ban and his international comeback.
In One Day Internationals, Taylor became the third Zimbabwean to reach 10 000 runs during the series against Sri Lanka last year.
He has since joined the Flower brothers, Andy (11 580) and Grant (10 028).
He also reached the milestone of having the longest ODI career, spanning 22 years and 148 days.
Taylor became the oldest T20I centurion at 39 years and 234 days during last year.
The 40-year-old top-order batter is now the leading ODI run-scorer for Zimbabwe, with 6 837 runs from 211 matches.
And yesterday, Taylor became the second-oldest Test centurion after his 131 off 168 balls as the Chevrons dominated the opening day of their first Test against Afghanistan.
It was Taylor’s first century in Test cricket since November 2018, a period that includes stretches of scant opportunities in the format for Zimbabwe and the three-and-a-half-year ban he served for breaching the ICC’s anti-corruption code.
With Taylor leading the charge, Zimbabwe’s top order got their moments to shine, with openers Innocent Kaia and Ben Curran putting up 60 runs off 100 balls before the former miscued an attempted sweep off Qais Ahmad to Rahmanullah Gurbaz at first slip.
Kaia had only scored 34 off 51 balls before walking back to the pavilion.
Zimbabwe put up another 65 runs off 109 balls for the second wicket as Curran was soon joined by the man of the moment, Taylor.
However, it was the third-wicket partnership between Taylor and stand-in skipper Bennett that really stamped Zimbabwe’s authority, as the two put up 137 runs off 200 balls.
Taylor got to his first Test century since his return, and seventh overall, during that magnificent stand, passing the 100-run mark in the 57th over.
Unfortunately, he failed to get the double as Afghanistan got the big breakthrough when
Hashmatullah Shahidi had Taylor caught by Zia-ur-Rehman at long-off.
Zimbabwe would lose two more wickets as Craig Ervine and debutant Antum Naqvi fell cheaply for four and nine runs respectively.
Ervine was trapped leg-before-wicket by Zia-ur-Rehman.
Zia-ur-Rehman got his second wicket of the day as the seamer had Naqvi caught behind by Ikram Alikhil.
With five wickets down, the duo of Bennett and Wesley Madhevere went about rebuilding Zimbabwe’s innings with an unbeaten 39 off 47 balls for the sixth wicket at stumps.
In the end, Zimbabwe made a strong start by posting 326 for five in 87 overs, with significant contributions from Taylor and Bennett.
And while Afghanistan did hit back in the last session, reducing Zimbabwe from 262 for two to 287 for five, the day belonged to the Chevrons.
Taylor and Bennett got together in the 35th over with Zimbabwe well placed at 125 for two, but it was their 137-run stand, in which Taylor faced more balls — 123 to 77 — and scored many more runs than his partner — 88 to 49 — that gave Zimbabwe the advantage.
Zia-ur-Rehman finished as the pick of the Afghan bowlers with two wickets for 118 runs, while the trio of Mohammad Saleem, Qais Ahmad and Hashmatullah Shahidi each picked up a wicket.
The two teams return to the pitch this morning for day two of the first Test.
