After 1541 Runs and a Draw, Sharjah Asks the Bowlers to Find a Way

The first Test in Sharjah will be remembered for its numbers. Zimbabwe made 504 in their first innings and 523 for 5 in their second, and became the first team in Test history to pass 500 in both innings of a match. Afghanistan made 514 in between. It was the first Test ever to have three totals of 500 or more, and it had seven individual hundreds. For 1541 runs, only 25 wickets fell. It ended in a draw, and from the middle of the fourth day nobody really expected anything else.

So the series is 0-0 with one Test to play, and both sides go back to the same ground only four days later. For Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, who play few Tests, a series win would mean a great deal. Zimbabwe's captain Brian Bennett chose to bat through the last day of the first Test and keep Afghanistan in the field in the heat, partly with this game in mind.

Zimbabwe's batting was the story of the first Test. Brendan Taylor made 131 and 82 and was Player of the Match at 40 years and 272 days, the second-oldest man to win the award in a men's Test. Craig Ervine, 41, then made 206 not out in the second innings, the third-oldest man to score a Test double-century. Bennett made 128 not out and 58 on his captaincy debut, and Wessly Madhevere scored 54 and a maiden Test hundred, 100 not out. Debutant Antum Naqvi batted 136 balls for 61 on the last day.

With the ball, Newman Nyamhuri took 5 for 82, the best figures of the match. Graeme Cremer, back in Test cricket, bowled 55 overs of legspin for his 3 for 177. Zimbabwe will probably keep the same side. A possible XI, based on the first Test: Innocent Kaia, Ben Curran, Brendan Taylor, Brian Bennett (c), Craig Ervine, Antum Naqvi, Wessly Madhevere, Tafadzwa Tsiga (wk), Graeme Cremer, Newman Nyamhuri, Blessing Muzarabani.

Afghanistan's batters answered Zimbabwe's 504 with real patience. Captain Rahmat Shah batted 347 balls for 173, Rahmanullah made 113 and Sediqullah Atal 105. Rahmat now has two hundreds and a fifty in his first three Test innings as captain. Their problem is at the other end. Zia-ur-Rehman bowled 96 overs across the two innings and conceded 343 runs, and Mohammad Saleem, with 3 for 82 in the first innings, looked the most likely to take wickets, hitting the deck hard on a pitch that gave him little.

Afghanistan may want to freshen the attack. Their Test squad also has Yamin Ahmadzai, Khalil Gurbaz and Ismat Alam, and any of them could come in. A possible XI, if they keep most of the first Test side: Sediqullah Atal, Abdul Malik, Rahmanullah, Rahmat Shah (c), Hashmatullah Shahidi, Shahidullah, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Qais Ahmad, Zia-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Saleem, Ziaur Rahman.

The first Test pitch gave the bowlers almost nothing. It stayed flat and slow for five days, the ball stopped swinging once the shine went, and Rahmat bowled his part-timers through the last afternoon rather than tire his main bowlers. There was a hint of reverse swing on the fifth morning, which then went away. Afghanistan's spinners, who are usually their strength, found little turn.

The second Test is at the same ground so soon afterwards that a very different pitch seems unlikely. If it is a fresh strip with a bit more grass, or if the groundstaff leave it drier for the spinners, the game could look very different. Either way, the toss may matter: batting first and making a big score, then bowling with a worn ball on days four and five, is probably the surest way to force a result in Sharjah.