Zimbabwe 0 for 6 (Gumbi 4*, Curran 1*) Trail Afghanistan 157 (Rashid 25, Raza 3-30, Niyamori 3-42, Mazarbani 2-56) from 151 runs

It took Zimbabwe 197 overs and two days to take ten wickets from Afghanistan in the opening Test. Days later, at the same venue, Zimbabwe needed just 44.3 overs and less than two sessions to bowl out Afghanistan for 157, taking early control of the second Test in Bulawayo.

Conditions were very different at the start of the opening day, with persistent rain greeting both teams, and the toss being delayed by nearly four hours.

When conditions improved, Craig Irwin had no hesitation in bowling first to what his opposite number Hashmatullah Shahidi described as a “spicy pitch”. Zimbabwe made two changes to their playing XI from the first Test, bringing in Richard Ngarwa and Raza, while Afghanistan made five changes to their squad. It also includes Test debuts for Fareed Ahmed, Riyaz Hasan and Ismat Alam.

Bulawayo’s pitch had the color of green, but Mazarbani and Ngarwa, being on the short side, failed to make much of a move. Afghanistan’s opening batsmen Abdul Malik and Riyad looked largely unsettled and managed just 25 runs in the first ten overs.

But a brilliant performance on the field gave the hosts an opening. Riaz pushes a full delivery from Nagerwa to the right of point, and goes for a single, only to be sent back long enough by Malik. Riaz, who was about halfway down the pitch, backed away, but Bennett, running to his right, picked up the ball with one hand, and in one swift movement broke the stumps at the striker’s end to catch the batsman at short. .

In the next over, Nyamori got a short-off length ball to quickly back, thus reaching Malik’s gloves to the wicketkeeper.

Shahidi and Rahmat Shah, who had stitched the record stand in the opening Test, then looked to arrest the slide. Shahidi started with a powerful cutoff to Mazrabani at backward point while Rahmat also got off the mark with a boundary, albeit a streak to the wicketkeeper’s left.

Rahmat then hit Mazarbani for two more boundaries, but got a reprieve when he got a thick outside edge to Dion Myers off Nagarawa, who dropped a relatively comfortable catch at gully. Thus, Shahidi and Rehmat went into lunch unbeaten.

But it didn’t take long for Zimbabwe to strike after the break, with 18-year-old Nyamori getting in on the act once again by squaring Shahidi, trapping him in front of the stumps for 13. Officer Zazai, another first Test century, then came in and immediately got his bearings.

But it was the introduction of Raza in this attack that led to Afghanistan’s downfall. He varied his pace brilliantly, bowled on the wicket-to-wicket lines, and second-guessed both Rahmat and Zazai. Niamori also stuck to a plan, and induced several outside edges before Reza fell.

Rehmat, unable to push Reza away, tried to unnerve him by cheekily sweeping his lap. But Raza bowled the ball to mid-on, and Rahmat saw it go past his leg-stump. Nigarawa then got Zazai off a snare before Raza cleaned up debutant Alam with a yorker as Afghanistan slipped to 81 for 6 inside ten balls.

Rashid Khan spanked Raza for three back-to-back cover drives as he came in with several strokes. Shahidullah also got his first boundary with a wrist flick. Mazarbani, who had been erratic all day, finally channeled the ball outside off and edged Shahidullah’s blade to the wicketkeeper. Rashid then failed to keep down a short and wide delivery off Mazrabani, taking an easy catch at deep point.

The end was near for the visitors when Raza cleaned out Yamin Ahmadzai for his third wicket. But Zia-ur-Rehman and Farid added 27 runs a ball for the last wicket, with debutant Farid hitting a four and a six off 19 balls to take Afghanistan past 150.

Zimbabwe’s openers survived a tough 20-minute burst from Afghanistan, and will be looking to overturn the deficit early on day two. Only 47.3 overs could be bowled on the first day due to rain and a wet outfield, but the Test has already progressed at a brisk pace.