THE first Test between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan looked headed for a draw by the end of the third day.
And the match lived up to expectations yesterday after the Chevrons declared on 523 for five, and the two captains, Brian Bennett and Ramat Shah, decided to call it a day at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium yesterday.
The decision saw the match end as a draw, but it will likely be Zimbabwe that walk away the more satisfied of the two teams.
That this match would end in a draw was certain when play resumed with Zimbabwe on 164 for three, playing on a pitch that continued to remain unresponsive and offered no assistance to the bowlers.
In the end, Craig Ervine became the third-oldest batter to score a double century, and Wessly Madhevere brought up his maiden Test century, as Zimbabwe batted throughout the fifth and final day to draw the first Test.
It was difficult to determine a safe total that could provide Zimbabwe enough cushion and time to force a result, considering the nature of this pitch.
So Bennett decided to grind Afghanistan in the Sharjah heat ahead of the second Test, which starts in three days.
On his part, Shah bowled part-time spin through the afternoon and evening sessions to protect his frontline bowlers.
He did not even take the new ball, despite the one in use scuffing up to such an extent that it lost the seam, as Zimbabwe batted for over 122 overs in the third innings.
That Zimbabwe would make Afghanistan labour throughout the day was clear when Bennett, who brought up his half-century in the first over, was cleaned up before drinks in the morning session when
Mohammad Saleem nipped a back-of-the-length delivery into him to hit the top of his leg stump.
It brought Antum Naqvi to the crease, and the debutant resorted to spending time at the crease over run accumulation as Zimbabwe added 88 runs in the morning session.
Saleem bent his back with Naqvi and peppered Naqvi with short balls in a seven-over-long spell, and the batter copped blows on his body rather than pulling him.
At that point, there were signs of reverse swing, but they vanished as Saleem continued to bang the ball on the abrasive deck.
While Naqvi remained conservative throughout his stay, his first boundary coming off the 102nd ball he faced, Ervine put his sweeping skills to the test throughout the day.
He swept with great control on either side of the pitch, often using his long levers to drag the ball from wide outside off behind square.
He crossed the 100-run mark in the afternoon session after drinks, becoming only the second-oldest man, behind Misbah-ul-Haq, to achieve the milestone since 2000.
Naqvi took 110 balls to score his maiden Test half-century.
The two added 140 runs off 253 balls for the fifth wicket as Shah threw the ball to his auxiliary bowlers to run down the clock.
The spinners largely resorted to defensive lines, aiming their flighted deliveries on the pads.
When Shahidullah erred down the leg side, umpire Rashid Riaz sprang into action to discourage the negative bowling, declaring one such delivery as a wide, which resulted in a deliberation between the umpire and the Afghanistan captain.
Madhevere played an enterprising innings after Naqvi’s dismissal, and Ervine also decided to have some fun later in the day. Madhevere brought up 50 at a run-a-ball, only to get slow as his maiden century in the format neared.
Ervine, meanwhile, continued to stroke boundaries, he struck 23 fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 206 off 279 balls, and smashed Abdul Malik for three consecutive boundaries in an over, with a four sandwiched between two sixes over midwicket.
Though there remained no ambiguity about this match ending any other way than a draw by drinks in the evening session, the play continued until the two batters ticked off the milestones.
In the process, Zimbabwe became the first team to score totals of more than 500 in both innings of a Test, and also recorded their highest aggregate score in a match.
For his part, Ervine has joined an elite class of double centurions after his unbeaten 206 off 279 balls anchored Zimbabwe’s innings.
Ervine became the fifth Zimbabwean player to go past 200 runs, after Dave Houghton (266), Andy Flower (232), Guy Whittall (203) and Grant Flower (201*).
At 41 years and 82 days, Ervine becomes the third-oldest centurion in Test cricket history in the whole world to hit a double century.
Zimbabwe posted 504 in their first innings before Afghanistan responded with 514.
Ervine’s push then took Zimbabwe to another mammoth total of 523 for five.
Zimpapers Sports Hub / Cricinfo
