length on the stumps and he turns it through backward square leg to complete a 10-wicket win for Zimbabwe.
Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe, 1st Test at Abu Dhabi, AFG v ZIM, Mar 02 2021 - Match Result
4.54 pm: That's all we have for you from this first Test. The next one starts on March 10, so do join us for that. And in between there is a whole lotta cricket lined up, all of which we'll be covering. A grand win for Zimbabwe here and this was also Williams' first win as Test captain. On that note, this is Saurabh Somani signing off, on behalf of Binoy and Ranjith too.
Sean Williams is the Man of the Match and the winning captain: "It was a fantastic team performance. I was really happy with my seam bowlers. Obviously it was a difficult wicket to bat on, but these challenges come in Test cricket. If we take them head on, we'll succeed. Test cricket can swing in a couple of games. In this game, the senior players came to the party, which is what I want. The younger guys will learn from it. (Partnership with Raza) He took the role of being more aggressive than I did. I had to deal with a bit more spin than him. I was just happy to see the senior players stand up."
Asghar Afghan: Congratulations to Zimbabwe, they played very well. When you play good cricket you win the game. Yesterday we won a good toss but they bowled good lines and our boys played poor shots as well. Our bowlers bowled brilliantly, especially Hamza, but we had too low a total. Second innings, we had scoreboard pressure as well. We couldn't prepare well for this Test honestly, due to visa issues. Next game, we have to think positive. Zadran played very well too.
4.45 pm: We'll have the presentations for you shortly.
Neel: "Clinical performance by the Zimbabweans! They kept the pressure up on the Afganistan throughout this test to come out on top! Afganistan too showed great fight back in the second innings! Expect them to come back strong in the next test."
Pras G: "4-day test match?Ain't nobody got time fo dat..."
Munhumutema : "Quite beautiful to see Zimbabwe "
Simba T: "I am Zimbabwean and used to reading Williams and not Williamson ha ha ha. A near faultless display by Zimbabwe nevertheless"
4.38 pm: Zimbabwe have gone 1-0 up in the series with a dominant show. Afghanistan showed some fight in their second innings, but they had fallen too far behind to turn the result of the game around. They'll have some positives to take from here, Zadran's batting and Hamza's bowling most prominent. But lots to work on for the batsmen. Zimbabwe's bowlers set the tone and Sean Williams was simply outstanding. His was easily the innings of the game, and in addition, he took a key wicket and also plucked out a spectacular catch. But this was a collective triumph too. Blessing Muzarabani and Victor Nyauchi did well with the ball, Sikandar Raza and Regis Chakabva contributed with the bat, and Donald Tiripano played his part in the second innings to end Afghanistan's resistance with a double strike, and the final wicket.
Joydip: "Victories over Ireland and Bangladesh appear long ago now and things have definitely gone downhill for Afghanistan in test cricket. I do hope that this match is just a temporary glitch on their test match credentials "
length ball down leg side, doesn't connect while trying to glance it fine
Just 1 to win for Zimbabwe then.
strays down leg and he tickles it fine. Scores level
quicker one darted on the stumps, goes right back and blocks it
tossed up fuller, he goes for the big golf swing, gets a thick inside edge that goes to deep forward square leg
good length on off, defended on the front foot
Dave: "This is just a result of not playing enough red ball cricket. It's not really a coincidence that the only bloke who tonned is the most experienced. "
fuller on off, swept hard and swept square. There is no fielder there so even though the timing wasn't pristine, there's enough to take the ball over the rope
tossed up on off, defended on the front foot
full outside off, driven fluently but can't beat mid-off
angling into him on a length outside off, he comes forward to defend and inside edges onto pad
length ball, well clear of offstump, and left alone
length ball coming into him, tucked to square leg
nudged to midwicket
inside edged past the keeper. Gets this to tail into him from around the wicket, and the batsman was looking to whip it off his toes. Gets an inside edge that goes to the keeper's right
Ahmadzai to share the new ball, so it won't be all spin.
Rakib: "Disappointing to see Afghans cannot survive even 50 overs. Their only decent batting performance in both innings were against Bangladesh where they won with huge margin."
length on off, he stretches well forward to defend.
tossed up outside off, comes on the front foot to defend.
bang. Full outside off and he gets down to absolutely hammer a slog-sweep to deep midwicket
beauty. Tossed up on a length, pitches on leg and turns past the bat as he's looking to defend and hits his back pad. that looked out.
Round the wicket for the right-hander.
tossed up, he comes down the track and drills it past the bowler. Came off the end of the bat so it's cut off before the boundary
fuller on the stumps, defended
4.25 pm: Right we're all set for the final innings. Hamza to open the bowling with slip, silly point and short leg around the bat
TheGrissom: "Just checking with all the other readers - am I the only one who keeps reading Williamson rather than Williams?"
- erm, I might have contributed to that with a typo, missing a space when writing "Williams on"...
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Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi | |
Toss | Afghanistan, elected to bat first |
Series | |
Season | 2020/21 |
Player Of The Match | |
Series result | Zimbabwe led the 2-match series 1-0 |
Match number | Test no. 2413 |
Hours of play (local time) | 10am start, Lunch 12.00-12.40, Tea 14.40-15.00, Close 17.00 |
Match days | 2,3, March 2021 - day (5-day match) |
Test debut | |
Umpires | |
TV Umpire | |
Reserve Umpire | |
Match Referee |