Taylor stitches in time as Zimbabwe make strong start to first Test against Afghanistan

Brendan Taylor smashed a cracking century and Brian Bennett an unbeaten 71 to steer Zimbabwe to 326/5 at stumps on the first day of their first Test against Afghanistan at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday.

Afghanistan staged a comeback in the last session of the day after Zimbabwe dominated the first two sessions courtesy of sublime batting performances by Bennett and Taylor.

After dominating the first two sessions completely, Zimbabwe wobbled a bit after tea as they lost three wickets and scored 64 runs as Afghans bowlers pulled it back in the last session.

Ziaur Rehman was the most successful bowler as he returned with a figure of 2/30 while Mohammed Salim, Qais Ahmed and Hashmatullah Shahidi took one each.

Earlier, both the batsmen applied themselves and exploited the platform given by their openers. Taylor steered a rising delivery from Salim over the slip and the ball raced to boundary rope.

He brought his seventh century in style. He became the second oldest batter to achieve the feat since 2000 at the age of 40 years and 272 days.

Pakistan’s former captain Misbah ul Haq achieved the feat at the age of 42 years and 70 days against England at Lord’s in 2016.

The oldest man ever to score a Test century is England’s Jack Hobbs, who scored 142 against Australia in 1929.

Taylor also became the second Zimbabwean player to score the most centuries in Test cricket after former great Andy Flower, who has 12 in his name.

Taylor surpassed Andy’s brother Grant Flower, who has scored six tons.

Taylor and the captain Bennett played sensibly and showed the temperament of a matured Test batsman. Both the batter played with determination and kept the Afghanistan bowlers at bay.

Taylor led the way with a composed innings. His innings was studded with 10 boundaries and four sixes, which shows his dominance in the field.

Taylor’s record in Test matches in Asia has been more than impressive. He has scored 694 runs in 17 innings at an average of 46.66 with the help of three centuries and one fifty.

Taylor returned to the fold after a gap of more than four months. He played his last Test against Bangladesh in 2025 in Harare.

But when he took to the field, he seemed to have resumed where he left last year. He was in total control of the innings and did not give any chance to the Afghanistan bowlers. He picked up the loose deliveries and punished the bowler.

Both Bennett and Taylor frustrated Afghanistan bowlers with a sublime partnership and completely dominated the two sessions. Afghanistan bowlers had no clue how to break the partnership.

Just before the drinks break in the last session of the day, Hashmatullah Shahidi gave Afghanistan the most important breakthrough by getting rid of Taylor.

He lured the veteran Zimbabwean with a flighted delivery, pitching it on the off stumps. Tayor tried to play over the cover and failed to get into the line of the ball.

He miscued the shot and Rahman ran almost 10 metres to complete a clean catch.

Taylor’s dismissal brought a sigh of relief in the Afghanistan camp. He added 137 runs for the third wicket with stand-in skipper Bennett.

Bennett also played a captain’s knock as he completed his fifty to complement Taylor. He reached his third fifty of the career with a boundary.

After the dismissal of Taylor, Afghanistan bowlers began to attack in a bid to take a few more wickets toward the end of the first day.

Ziaur Rehman trapped returning Graig Ervin in front of the stumps to reduce Zimbabwe to 271/4.

Ervin made a comeback into the squad for the first time since June. He also played his last Test against Bangladesh and scored a sublime 60 runs in that match.

After losing two quick wickets, Zimbabwe needed to stick to the wicket and play out the last session without losing any more wickets.

But the charged-up Afghan bowlers were in no mood to let the chance slip away from their hands. They kept on attacking with the fielder surrounding the debutant Antum Naqvi closely from all sides to put pressure on him.

Spinners were bowling from both the ends, trying to exploit the cracks on the field made by the batsmen. Afghanistan spinners knew it was a golden chance to use the cracks.

As once the play gets over, the turf would be rolled to make it ready for the next day.