Ben Curran fifty guides Zimbabwe into lead after Evans skittles out Afghanistan

Choosing to bowl first in a Test match is always a tricky call, but it's justified if you end the first day in the lead, with eight wickets in hand. That's what Zimbabwe achieved, as Test cricket returned to the Harare Sports Club for the first time after 2021.

Brad Evans' five-wicket haul and Ben Curran's half-century put Zimbabwe on top on the opening day of the one-off Test against Afghanistan.

With plenty of movement on offer for the fast bowlers, Zimbabwe knocked Afghanistan over for 127 inside a session and a half, before taking the lead at the stroke of stumps. On the way there, they survived some testing bowling from the Afghanistan quicks.

Earlier in the day, the returning Richard Ngarava struggled to find his rhythm and Ibrahim Zadran took him for three fours in an over. But the Afghanistan openers found it tougher to tackle Blessing Muzarabani, who extracted extra bounce from a good length. This led to Ibrahim edging one to third slip in the sixth over.

But after that, the first hour belonged to Afghanistan, as they ticked along at close to six runs an over thanks largely to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who came in at one-down. Tanaka Chivanga troubled him with extra bounce. One ball flew over the cordon off the shoulder of Gurbaz's bat, and he later top-edged a pull, but it landed in a vacant deep square leg region.

Gurbaz picked up a couple more boundaries, with an off-drive off a full-toss and a ramp off Chivanga. However, Zimbabwe regrouped in the drinks break, started bowling tighter lines and lengths, and reaped the rewards. First, Gurbaz sliced a full ball from Chivanga to point. Then a mix-up with Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi led to opener Abdul Malik being run-out for his Test best score of 30.

Malik had started watchfully before dispatching a couple of short balls for boundaries, but after he squeezed out a yorker from Chivanga in front of cover and took off for a single, Shahidi responded to the call before turning back and leaving Malik stranded.

Evans, playing his first Test since February 2023, gave Zimbabwe a boost in the penultimate over before the lunch break. First, a full delivery from around the wicket drew Shahidi into a drive. The length wasn't quite right for the drive, and the ball nibbled away and found the edge, which Nick Welch pouched at gully, diving to his left. Three balls later, Evans had Afsar Zazai nicking off with a length ball that straightened off the pitch. From 77 for 1, Afghanistan had slipped to 102 for 5.

The capitulation continued after the interval, with Muzarabani striking in each of his first two overs after lunch. Bahir Shah got a thick edge to gully's left and Brian Bennett held on to a diving effort before Muzarabani had Ismat Alam strangled down leg. Sharafuddin Ashraf tried to take on Evans and skied one to mid-off's left and Zimbabwe's good fielding display continued as Chivanga completed another diving catch.

Muzarabani drew Yamin Ahmadzai's edge twice in an over, but one went over the cordon and the other fine of backward point for fortunate boundaries. Soon, Evans had Khalil Gurbaz edging behind off a short ball, and cleaned up Ziaur Rahman first ball with a yorker to complete a maiden Test five-for.

In all, Afghanistan lost 9 for 50 to vindicate Zimbabwe's decision to bowl.

When Zimbabwe began their innings, Bennett looked tentative early on, beaten on the outside edge twice as he tried to drive outswingers from Ahmadzai. But it was Ziaur who bowled him with a lovely full delivery on off, which angled in and straightened to beat the bat and uproot off stump.

Ben Curran and Nick Welch then played watchfully till tea, even as Ziaur thought he had Welch caught behind off the inside edge, only to be denied by the umpire.

Curran waited until his 21st delivery for his first boundary, slashing Ahmadzai behind point. At the other end, Welch crunched a boundary through the covers off Ahmadzai with tea looming. When Afghanistan brought on spin for the first time in the 13th over, Curran drove Ashraf through the covers off his second delivery.

The batters faced a testing period as the seamers returned after tea. Welch, especially, struggled to settle, with the quicks finding movement through the day. In the second over after the interval, Welch got a leading edge that went back over the bowler's head. One ball later, Alam thought he had his man as Welch edged while looking to drive and Zazai caught him behind the stumps, but his celebrations were short-lived as replays confirmed he had overstepped.

Even after that, Welch had several play-and-misses and lucky edges that didn't cost him. Curran struggled for fluency too. He was not helped when he was struck on the helmet but denied a concussion test by the umpire Nitin Menon, who was looking to speed up a sedate over rate. Menon adjudged that the ball had hit him on the glove when he tried to pull a short ball.

Legspinner Khalil's introduction eased some of the pressure on the batters, as Welch swept his second ball for four and then launched him for a six over midwicket in his second over. In Khalil's third over, Welch launched him inside-out over cover for another boundary.

The Afghan bowlers' toil finally paid off when Ziaur went through Welch's defence with an inswinger to send his off stump cartwheeling. Brendan Taylor was rapped on the pads first ball he faced, but the umpire adjudged him not out. Taylor got off the mark off his third ball, tucking one fine off his pads.

When Ashraf returned, Taylor lofted him down the ground for his second boundary. He continued to pick up runs quickly, ramping a short ball from Ziaur over the keeper.

Curran got to his half-century off 108 balls, with a single in the 38th over. Zimbabwe also took the lead in that over, which proved to be the final one of the day, with umpires calling stumps early due to bad light.