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On Monday, January 6, Rashid Khan scripted Afghanistan’s first Test win in Zimbabwe and fourth Test win in history with a sensational seven-wicket haul, while defending 277 runs at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. In a highly pulsating Test match, the fifth day began with Zimbabwe needing 72 runs with two wickets in hand including their captain Sean Ervine, but when Rashid Khan trapped him in front of the stumps, the contest ended in favour of Afghanistan.
It took just 15 balls for Afghanistan to take the final two Zimbabwean wickets on day five without conceding a run, but the majority of the damage was done on the fourth day by their bowlers. Rashid Khan took wickets of Ben Curran, Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Sikandar Raza, Dion Myers, Sean Williams, Brian Bennett, and finally Zimbabwean captain Craig Ervine, to help Afghanistan clinch the two-match series 1-0.
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Rahmat Shah and Ismat Alam scored vital hundreds in second innings for Afghanistan
Earlier, on the first day, Zimbabwe won the toss and put Afghanistan into batting first before bowling them out for 157 runs, and in response, they scored 243 runs, thanks mainly to the fifties from Sikandar Raza and Craig Ervine, while Rashid Khan took four wickets. In their second innings, Afghanistan were in serious trouble at one stage before hundreds from Rahmat Shah and Ismat Alam ensured that they scored 363 runs despite the six-wicket haul from Blessing Muzarabani.
In pursuit of the difficult target of 272 runs, Zimbabwe were in a decent position at one stage with 157/4 on the board while Sikandar Raza and Craig Ervine were at the crease. But from that point onwards, the match belonged to Rashid Khan, who spun a web on the Zimbabwean batters, and ran through the lower middle order in just one spell, to set up a famous Test victory for Afghanistan away from home.
Prior to this performance, Afghanistan had defeated Bangladesh to earn their first-ever Test victory in Chattogram 2019 before they got the better of Ireland in Dehradun 2019 and Zimbabwe in Abu Dhabi 2021.
