Ben Curran ton puts Zimbabwe in total control

Ben Curran's maiden Test ton put Zimbabwe firmly in control against Afghanistan in the one-off Test in Harare. Curran hit a patient 121 and there were also contributions from Sikandar Raza and Brad Evans as Zimbabwe piled on the runs to take a lead of 232 in the first innings. Afghanistan in their second essay lost Abdul Malik before stumps.

Resuming with a lead of 3, Zimbabwe lost Brendan Taylor quite early. Despite racing to a fluent 32, Taylor was sent packing by Ziaur Rahman Sharifi who managed to castle him. Skipper Craig Ervine didn't last long either as Afghanistan were handed hope of restricting Zimbabwe to a par total. But that hope vanished real quick with Curran and Raza stitching a 99-run stand for the fifth wicket.

Raza was the aggressor, finding the boundary seven times in his half-century before Afghanistan finally broke the stand. Curran at the other end brought up a well-compiled century as Afghanistan's frustration grew. Sharifi's impressive debut continued though as he kept knocking down the stumps of the opposition batters to eventually finish with a stunning seven-wicket haul.

Despite his heroics, Zimbabwe had the upper hand with ease after opening day hero Brad Evans added some vital runs lower down the order to push the lead beyond 200. To round off the day in style. Zimbabwe also struck once with the ball before the close of play with Richard Ngarava removing Malik for just 2, leaving Afghanistan with a very tall order.

Brief scores: Afghanistan 127 & 34/1 (Ibrahim Zadran 25*; Richard Ngarava 1/9) trail Zimbabwe 359 (Ben Curran 121, Sikandar Raza 65; Ziaur Rahman Sharifi 7/97) by 198 runs