Shahidi smashes second double-ton as Afghanistan post their highest Test score

While the two other Boxing Day Tests in South Africa and Australia turned out to be fascinating thrillers, with the home teams emerging victorious, the same can’t be said about the Test between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. 

Batting first, Zimbabwe batters made merry and smashed 586 runs on the board, batting almost five sessions in the process. In response, at the time of writing this report, Afghanistan have now batted 193 overs at the time of writing this report, and have lost only four wickets in roughly two days and scored 656 runs. It’s already day five; the only possible result is a draw. 

However, many records were broken in the process, and the Afghan team, who don’t play Test cricket that often, would have certainly enjoyed scoring their highest-ever total in the game. 

Leading the effort for them were batters Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi, who both scored a double century. For some time, Shah had even got the record of the highest individual Test score for Afghanistan to his name, but skipper Shahidi had other ideas. Shahidi scored 246 (474) and registered the highest individual score by an Afghan in a Test to his name. 

Notably, Shahidi also became the only Afghan batter to score two double centuries, as he already had a 200* against the same opposition in Abu Dhani in 2021. Shahidi also shared a 364-run partnership with Shah, which is the highest partnership for Afghanistan in Tests for any wicket. 

Earlier, Sean Williams, Craig Ervine, and Brian Bennett scored centuries for Zimbabwe, taking them to 586 in the first innings. 

The second Test of the two-match Test series will begin on January 2.