Zimbabwe cricket celebrated a historic moment at Harare Sports Club after defeating Afghanistan by an innings and 73 runs in a one-off Test match ,their first home Test win since 2013.
The Chevrons delivered a complete performance across all three disciplines as the match wrapped up on Day 3, just after lunch. The last time Zimbabwe won a Test at Harare Sports Club was also in 2013, against Pakistan.
Ben Curran was named Player of the Match after scoring a superb 121 his maiden Test century to guide Zimbabwe to 359 all out in their first innings, giving them a commanding lead of 232 runs.
Afghanistan never found their footing in the second innings. Seamer Richard Ngarava was the chief destroyer, claiming his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
Bowling with pace and aggression under overcast conditions, he proved virtually unplayable. Earlier, Brad Evans had also taken his first five for in Afghanistan’s first innings, while Blessing Muzarabani maintained relentless pressure and picked up three wickets.
For Afghanistan, the only bright spot was their debutant fast bowler Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, who impressed with a seven-wicket haul, troubling Zimbabwe’s batsmen with sharp swing five of his dismissals were bowled.
It was a long overdue and well deserved victory for the Chevrons, built on disciplined bowling, sharp fielding, and solid batting a fitting way to close out a busy year in which Zimbabwe played 10 Tests, their most in several seasons.
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