Online Reporter
Brandon Moyo, Zimpapers Sports Hub
FOR over a decade, the fortress of Zimbabwean cricket had been silent. The Chevrons arrived at the Harare Sports Club for their one-off Test against Afghanistan burdened by the weight of 12 years and 21 consecutive home Test defeats.
But on Wednesday afternoon, that long-suffering silence was shattered. In a spectacular performance that concluded inside two and a half days, Zimbabwe didn’t just win — they dismantled Afghanistan by an innings and 73 runs, securing a victory so resounding it immediately became the largest innings margin in the nation’s history.
It was a moment that also etched itself into the history books of Zimbabwean cricket. Wednesday’s victory was the Chevrons’ third overall innings victory, arriving 24 years after their last, which was against Bangladesh at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo in April 2001.
From the history-making team, Brendan Taylor was the only player who had featured in the 2013 Test against Pakistan, which, prior to Wednesday, stood as their most recent red-ball win at home.
The Chevrons have played a record 10 Test matches this year — they had never played more than six in any single year since 2005. This was their second win of the year, and the only home Test to be staged at Harare Sports Club.
Earlier in the year, they suffered heavy defeats against powerhouses like England, in a historic one-off Test at Trent Bridge, and were whitewashed 2-0 apiece by New Zealand and South Africa at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.
Considering the volume of Test cricket the Chevrons have played this year, veteran coach Steve Mangongo believes that their victory against Afghanistan was the culmination of all those defeats and the experiences they were gathering along the way. He said the result is an indicator of the good work that is being done and signals good times ahead, adding that the win was not down to chance or luck.
“It was good fashion to see our boys compete and win like that by an innings. Remember, Afghanistan is no longer a lower team, they are moving to being a top team and are now in the middle so beating them like that convincingly is a good indicator of the work that has been done over the past six to eight months.
“It’s a culmination of all those defeats, the boys learnt their lessons and we are now moving in the right direction. This is the barometer of learning. You don’t win a Test match by chance, it’s not T20 where you can be lucky and win.
Test cricket requires a lot, skill factor comes into play, you have to exhibit that, you have to win session by session and our boys did exactly that to thrash Afghanistan, a team that is in the middle of the pack,” said Mangongo.
Mangongo, who is head of Zimbabwe Cricket’s High Performance, stressed that consistency must now follow, calling on the team to maintain the same standard going forward.
“Again, the boys learnt from all that hammering against the likes of England, South Africa and New Zealand. We are now looking forward to consistency, its key. It’s what we need to have now. We should be in that middle pack, that’s our standard, we should be able to beat teams like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. We have no business fighting against the likes of Ireland. This was the opening of a new chapter, the results of a gruelling past experience. This is basically the outcome of good game time, congratulations to our boys,” said Mangongo.
Zimbabwe, who moved from Queens Sports Club — the venue that had hosted all their home Tests this year — to Harare Sports Club, won the toss and elected to field first. Skipper Craig Ervine stated that everything was going in their favour as they picked four seamers.
The Chevrons’ bowling attack was spearheaded by Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Bradley Evans, and Tanaka Chivanga. They opted not to include a specialist spinner, and the seamers certainly got the job done.
Evans, playing only his second Test match, and his first in two years, bagged his maiden Test five-for in the first innings, finishing with remarkable figures of 5/22 in 9.3 overs as Zimbabwe skittled Afghanistan for just 127 runs. Muzarabani claimed three scalps while Chivanga secured one.
In reply, Ben Curran notched up his maiden Test century for Zimbabwe, top-scoring with 121 runs off 256 balls as the Chevrons were eventually bowled out for 359, taking a sizeable innings lead of 232 runs. Curran was ably supported by Sikandar Raza who scored 65, Nick Welch who fell for 49, and Evans, who made an unbeaten 35 down the order.
The second innings with the ball belonged to Ngarava, who also picked up his maiden Test five-for, finishing with figures of 5/37 as Afghanistan were bundled out for just 159 runs in the second session of day three. Muzarabani also picked up three wickets while Chivanga claimed two, guiding Zimbabwe to a memorable and dominant victory.
Focus now shifts to three T20Is, which get underway on Wednesday.
