Taylor 131, Bennett's 71* give opening-day honours to Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe made a strong start on the opening day of the first Test against Afghanistan in Sharjah, posting 326 for 5 in 87 overs with significant contributions from Brendan Taylor and Brian Bennett. Afghanistan did hit back in the last session, reducing Zimbabwe from 262 for 2 to 287 for 5, but before and after that, it was all Zimbabwe.

Taylor and Bennett got together in the 35th over with Zimbabwe well placed at 125 for 2, but it was their 137-run stand, in which Taylor got to face more balls - 123 to 77 - and scored many more runs than his partner - 88 to 49 - that gave Zimbabwe the advantage.

They had the platform, of course. Openers Innocent Kaia and Ben Curran had put up 60 runs for the first wicket, Kaia quite the more enterprising of the two as he got 34 in 51 balls with five fours, but he also rode his luck.

In the third over itself, a delivery from fast bowler Mohammad Saleem jagged back in from a back of good length to hit his pad in front of the stumps. The decision was not out. It might have been going over. But no DRS meant no clarity. Then there was the no-control hook to a short delivery from Saleem that went to Ziaur Rahman at deep fine leg but was dropped. Not to forget the edge off the left-arm spinner Zia-ur-Rehman that flew past the slip cordon for four in the 11th.

His dismissal was also a somewhat bizarre one. Qais Ahmad tossed the ball up on middle and leg, Kaia went down for the sweep, got through with his shot early, and the ball went off the back of his bat to first slip.

Curran was on 25 at the time and went on to add 65 runs with Taylor before being undone by a searing yorker from Saleem in the second session. Saleem, who could so easily have had a wicket earlier in the script, was pumped, screaming in the face of the batter. Curran made 42 in 113 balls.

Then, from the 35th over to the 69th, Taylor and Bennett were in complete control. They scored at a healthy clip without ever looking like they were in a hurry. When the partnership started, Taylor was already on 43 off 45 balls with five fours and two sixes, both sixes coming off Zia-ur-Rehman. The association began slowly, before both batters began taking on Zia-ur-Rehman, getting singles off him relatively easily and also sending him for the occasional four or, in Taylor's case, six. All four of Taylor's sixes came off the same bowler. And by tea, Zimbabwe were at a healthy 213 for 2, with Taylor in sight of his seventh Test century on 95 and Bennett on 36.

The landmark came for Taylor in the first over after the break when he upper-cut Saleem for four off a short delivery that didn't really rise as expected off the slow surface. The century of the stand also came up soon after, but just when it seemed like Afghanistan were down and out, Hashmatullah Shahidi's occasional offspin proved to be just right for them. A flighted delivery around off stump tempted Taylor to attempt an inside-out shot over the covers but he miscued it long-off.

It was Taylor's first century in Test cricket since November 2018, a period that includes stretches of scant opportunities in the format for Zimbabwe and the three-and-a-half-year ban he served for breaching the ICC's anti-corruption code.

His wicket made it 262 for 3. Soon, it was 271 for 4 and then 287 for 5, with as Zia-ur-Rehman, toyed around by Taylor for so much of the day, picking up both wickets. He first sent back the experienced Craig Ervine and then the debutant Antum Naqvi, though in Naqvi's case, there was a bit of doubt about bat actually hitting ball as he was caught down the leg side.

Bennett was on 61 when Naqvi was dismissed and has since put on a further 39 runs in just 47 balls with Wessly Madhevere, the two seeing out the day without further damage.