BULAWAYO: Veteran middle-order batter Sean Williams was unbeaten on 145 as Zimbabwe posted 363 for four against Afghanistan on the first day of the first Test in Bulawayo on Thursday.

The 38-year-old needs seven more runs to overtake his Test career best — an unbeaten 151 in a loss to Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi three years ago.

Making his 16th Test appearance, Williams, who has also played 162 ODIs and 81 T20 Internationals since making the international stage back in 2005 — came in at No. 4 after a 68 from debutant opener Ben Curran had lifted the home team to 92-2 at the Queens Sports Club.

Playing in the southwestern city where he was born, Williams added 78 runs with Takudzwanashe Kait­ano (46) for the third wicket and 50 with Dion Myers (27) for the fourth.

He then partnered captain Craig Ervine (56 not out) in a 143-run stand as the Zimbabwe batters finally came good after a string of low white-ball totals in recent series losses to Pakistan and Afgha­ns.

Left-hander Williams, who made his Test debut against the West Indies in 2013, struck three sixes and nine fours off 161 deliveries for his fifth century.

Ervine faced 94 balls and hit six fours in the first Boxing Day Test hosted by Zimbabwe since a rain-affected draw with Engl­and in Harare 28 years ago.

Curran, a son of dece­ased former Zimbabwe coach Kevin Curran and brother of England internationals Tom and Sam, included 11 fours in his 74-ball knock.

Opener Joylord Gumbie was the only Zimbabwean who failed to reach double figures. He was out for nine when caught by wicket-keeper Afsar Zazai off a delivery from medium pacer Naveed Zadran.

Teenage off-spinner All­ah Ghazanfar (2-83) was the most successful of the Afg­han bowlers, taking the wic­k­ets of Curran and Myers.

But the tourists’ attack was generally unimpressive. Too many deliveries were loose, they struggled with line and length, and were not helped by some sloppy fielding.

SCOREBOARD

ZIMBABWE (1st Innings):

J. Gumbie c Afsar b Naveed 9

B. Curran b Ghazanfar 68

T. Kaitano c Sediqullah b Zahir 46

S. Williams not out 145

D. Myers c & b Ghazanfar 27

C. Ervine not out 56

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-9, NB-2) 12

TOTAL (for four wickets, 85 overs) 363

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-43 (Gumbie), 2-92 (Curran), 3-170 (Kaitano), 4-220 (Myers)

STILL TO BAT: B. Bennett, B. Mavuta, N. Nyamhuri, B. Muzarabani, T. Gwandu

BOWLING: Naveed 14-0-64-1, Omarzai 11-1-38-0, Ghazanfar 22-3-83-2, Zahir 18-0-88-1 (2nb), Zia 11-1-41-0, Malik 6-1-23-0, Shahidi 3-0-16-0

AFGHANISTAN: Sediqullah Atal, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Afsar Zazai, Shahidullah, AM Ghazanfar, Zia-ur-Rehman, Naveed Zadran, Zahir Khan

UMPIRES: Ahsan Raza (Pakistan) and Allahudien Paleker (South Africa)

TV UMPIRE: Langton Rusere (Zimbabwe)

MATCH REFEREE: Javagal Srinath (India)

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2024