Zimbabwe 50 for 0 (Masvaure 29*, Kasuza 14*) trail Afghanistan 545 for 4 dec (Shahidi 200*, Afghan 164, Zadran 72, Jamal 55*) by 495 runs
Hashmatullah Shahidi became the first Afghanistan batsman to score a double-hundred, and joined his captain Asghar Afghan and Rahmat Shah as the only three players from the country to reach triple figures in Tests, as Afghanistan piled on the fifth-highest total in Abu Dhabi.
On a flat pitch, Afghanistan breached 500 and set several other batting records including the Shahidi's feat came in his comeback series, after he was dropped for Afghanistan's Test against West Indies in November 2019 amid criticism that he scored too slowly and was susceptible to the short ball. He showed none of those tendencies in this match, with a perfectly paced innings that complemented Afghan's aggressive approach, and navigated Zimbabwe's three-pronged pace attack (which includes the more than two-metre tall Blessing Muzarabani whose default length is shorter than most) with ease.
There was little to work with for both seamers and spinners and Zimbabwe were reduced to spectators for most of the day. They started well and squeezed Afghanistan in the first hour, with just 23 runs coming off the first 12 overs.
Muzarabani adjusted his length to bowl fuller than usual and Victor Nyauchi found some early movement but once Afghan and Shahidi had seen them off, runs flowed and milestones were ticked off.
Shahidi, who had been on 86 overnight, reached his hundred with a drive through point and after getting there, took boundaries off Donald Tiripano and Sean Williams. Zimbabwe had the opportunity to get rid of him shortly after that when, on 112, Shahidi drove a ball back to Williams that he could have taken at shoulder height but he got fingertips to it before the ball tumbled out. Williams created another chance in his next over, when Afghan on 124, sliced a drive to point. Kevin Kasuza should have taken a simple grab but could not hold on.
Instead, Afghan went to reach 150 with a single to deep backward square and seemed set for many more. With Afghan scoring largely on the on-side and Shahidi dominant on the off-side, Zimbabwe struggled to plug the gaps. Their only other success came when Sikandar Raza trapped Afghan lbw with a delivery that pitched on middle and would have gone on to at least clip leg stump. At that point, he held Afghan was in possession of Afghanistan's highest individual score,164.
Shahidi's 150 followed soon after and he drew level with Afghan when he sent a Williams' full toss to long-on before overtaking his captain with a single in the same area. He and Nasir Jamal took Afghanistan into the third session and accelerated their scoring slightly as thoughts of a declaration loomed. Shahidi took Afghanistan to 500 by belting Ryan Burl through the covers and Jamal brought up his first Test fifty off 86 balls before Shahidi's magic moment came.
He reached 200 off the 443rd ball he faced, with a nudge behind square. Jamal was celebrating even as he completed the run and Shahidi joined in soon after. Though the match is being played behind closed doors, he received a standing ovation from his team-mates and the support staff. Afghan called his batsmen in immediately after, leaving Zimbabwe with 17 overs to navigate to the close of play.
They survived unscathed and their opening pair put on 50 to keep the run-fest going. But, their time in the middle was not without its nerves. Kevin Kasuza survived two chances, first when he was on 1 and he pulled Afghanistan's lone seamer Sayed Shirzad to midwicket. Amir Hamza spilled the chance and had to leave the field with an injury. Hamza returned in the next over with strapping on the middle finger of his right hand and had a convincing lbw appeal against Kasuza but Aleem Dar was not convinced.
Rashid Khan was introduced in the ninth over, and was hit for four off his second ball but by his third over, he started to find the kind of turn that could cause Zimbabwe problems. If the cracks on the surface break up, facing him as the match goes on could become trickier but with the pitch playing well, there seems to still be plenty of runs to be scored.