Rahmat Shah's Unbeaten 231* Puts Afghanistan on Track After Zimbabwe’s Historic Total

Afghanistan ended Day 3 of the first Test against Zimbabwe at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo in a dominant position, taking the score to 425/2 at close of play. This was all thanks to a brilliant, unbeaten 361-run partnership between Rahmat Shah, who was not out on 231*, and Hashmatullah Shahidi scored 141*. Afghanistan mounted a strong fightback after a huge first-innings deficit.

Starting at 95/2, Afghanistan aimed to recover from Zimbabwe's commanding first-innings total of 586. Rahmat Shah, who resumed on 58*, brought up his half-century soon and then his 100, continuing to dominate Zimbabwe's bowlers. He showed excellent technique, facing 416 balls and hitting 23 fours and three sixes. His marathon knock of 231* broke Afghanistan's previous highest Test score of 200* set by Shahidi in 2021, becoming a new record for the country.

At the other end, Shahidi was equally impressive, building his innings steadily. He scored his half-century just when Rahmat completed his hundred, and the pair kept the scoreboard ticking. His patient knock included 16 fours and showed how well he can occupy the crease for long periods of time and frustrate Zimbabwean bowlers. His 141* was his second century in Tests and along with Rahmat, they gave a new record for Test cricket by setting a highest partnership of 361-run for Afghanistan, breaking a previous record of 307 runs between Shahidi and Asghar Afghan on Zimbabwe in 2021.

𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬! 📚@RahmatShah_08 and @Hashmat_50's 361* runs partnership is the highest stand for any wicket in test cricket for Afghanistan. 🙌🤝#AfghanAtalan | #ZIMvAFG | #GloriousNationVictoriousTeam pic.twitter.com/147KCA5xW4

— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) December 28, 2024

Zimbabwean bowlers struggled to penetrate all day. The medium pacers Blessing Muzarabani and Trevor Gwandu had some good moments but were not constant, and the duo of Afghanistan was quite relaxed at the crease. Poor fielding hurt the Zimbabwean bowlers more as Rahmat was lucky to see many dropped catches, at least four opportunities missed in total, including two very easy ones for one over by Muzarabani. Despite these mistakes, Zimbabwe could not capitalise and the pressure on their attack kept mounting as Rahmat and Shahidi continued in their steady association.

The day also saw a rare occurrence in Test cricket, where Zimbabwe did not take a wicket for the entire day, which is a first in their history. It was the first time this had happened since January 2019 when West Indies and England had been in the same situation.

Afghanistan's good pace left them with only 161 runs behind Zimbabwe, yet there are two full days of cricketing action still to take place. Rahmat could be looking for a probable triple century and so could Shahidi, at least to extend his quite good innings. Zimbabwe will require breaking this partnership if Zimbabwe wants to regain control again.

SEE ALSO: After MCG Century, Nitish Reddy's Father Shows Deep Respect to Sunil Gavaskar