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Williams’ unbeaten 145 leads Zimbabwe’s domination against Afghanistan on Boxing Day
With his family and well-wishers watching along from the Queens Sports Club balcony, Zimbabwe’s veteran batter Sean Williams celebrated his fifth Test ton in Bulawayo to give the hosts the upper hand in the Boxing Day Test against Afghanistan, as they finished on 363 for 4.
Williams not only negated Afghanistan’s spin challenge comfortably but also dominated the other bowlers to finish unbeaten on 145. His control percentage of 90 on a surface that offered decent turn right from the start of play displayed just that, with the inexperienced Afghanistan bowling attack – the visitors were missing Rashid Khan for the Test owing to personal reasons – looking both deflated and bruised by the end of it.
Walking in at the start of the second session to face his first ball with Zimbabwe at 92 for 2, Williams relied on his footwork to get on top of the bowling. Usually a frequent sweeper, Williams, on this occasion, took to the cuts, drives and pulls to shepherd the Zimbabwe innings. With Afghanistan not offering anything too full knowing Williams’ love for the sweep, he countered the bowlers’ lengths by rocking back or going on to the front foot with equal ease.
When Williams charged down the track, he lifted sixes over long-on and long-off. When he hung back, he created the time to slap boundaries through the off side. Williams’ enterprising batting earned him a half-century off 58 balls, and a century off 115.
But Williams’ innings wasn’t the only one to help Zimbabwe finish the day on a high. Opener Ben Curran, one of three Zimbabwe debutants and one of six across the two XIs, set the tone early with 68 off 74 balls. He welcomed fellow debutant Azmatullah Omarzai into Test cricket with a boundary off the allrounder’s first ball in the format, before unleashing ten more boundaries.
Curran was the majority contributor in a 43-run opening partnership with Joylord Gumbie (9), and a 49-run second-wicket stand with Takudzwanashe Kaitano (46), but fell to teen debutant AM Ghanzafar in the last over before lunch after a wrong’un sneaked through his defence to knock his stumps back.
Kaitano and Dion Myers (27), batting at No. 5, could not make full use of their starts, but their time in the middle ensured Zimbabwe lost just one wicket apiece in the two sessions after lunch. With Williams, Kaitano added 78 for the third wicket, while Myers put on 50 for the fourth.
Myers’ dismissal in the 56th over, caught and bowled by Ghazanfar for his second strike, brought in Zimbabwe’s captain Craig Ervine at No. 6, and he made certain that Afghanistan finished the day with way more questions than answers. With Williams showing how to score freely, Ervine dug in and quietly brought up his sixth Test fifty with a leg-side dominant innings.
Ervine’s knock was chanceless, unlike Williams, who, when on 124, needed the aid of a no-ball from Zahir Khan to continue batting. However, Ervine’s 56 in an unbeaten partnership of 143 for the sixth wicket was equally crucial for Zimbabwe to stamp their dominance on the day.
Play was called off five overs before the scheduled stumps owing to bad light, with Zimbabwe ending the day with a run rate of 4.27.
Brief scores:
Zimbabwe 363 for 4 in 85 overs (Sean Williams 145*, Ben Curran 68, Takudzwanashe Kaitano 46, Craig Ervine 56*; AM Ghazanfar 2-83) vs Afghanistan
[Cricinfo]
Mikel Merino scored in the 88th minute from a rebound yielded by backup Belgium goalkeeper Senne Lammens, and Spain advanced to the World Cup semifinals with a 2-1 victory.
Merino was the late hero for the second straight match for Spain, who advanced to face tournament favourite France in the semifinals on Tuesday in Dallas.
Merino came on in the 86th minute and scored from his second touch of the match, charging into the box and pouncing after Lammens spilled a Pau Cubarsi shot from outside the area.
The Arsenal forward also scored as a substitute early in injury time to secure Spain’s 1-0 victory over Portugal in the last-16.
Lammens, the Manchester United keeper, was forced into the match in the 71st minute after longtime Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois left with an apparent thigh injury.
Belgium desperately pressed for an equaliser in the final minutes, but Aymeric Laporte volleyed their best chance out of the box.
Fabian Ruiz scored the opening goal in the 30th minute for Spain after Courtois had parried a shot from Dani Olmo from Pedro Porro’s cut-back from the right of the area, but Belgium forward Charles De Ketelaere scored the first goal allowed by Spain in the entire World Cup in the 41st minute.
His header from Timothy Castagne’s cross from the right ended a record streak of 649 minutes without conceding at the World Cup.
The annual rugby encounter between Dharmaraja College and Kingswood College, played for the William Weerasinghe Memorial Trophy, is set to take place tomorrow (July 11, 2026), at 4:00 PM at the Bogambara Stadium, Kandy.
The official unveiling of the trophy took place this week at the Dharmaraja College premises with the participation of the Principals of the two schools, teachers-in-charge of sports, coaches, the Rugby teams, and several distinguished guests, including Dharmaraja College Old Boys’ Association President Mahesh Wijetunga, Kingswood College Old Boys’ Association President Muditha Abeykoon,
by S K SAMARANAYAKE
It has been reported quoting family sources that veteran singer Mariazelle Goonetilleke has passed away this morning (10) at the age of 68
She had been receiving treatment at the Kalubowila Teaching Hospital.
Spain leave it late to book semifinal date with France
Showers will occur in the Sabaragamuwa, Western and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts
US$ 2.5 mn cyber heist exposes system failures
Opposition signs no-confidence motion against Justice Minister for dereliction of duty over Negombo Prison deaths
AG informs SC of e-visa agreement review
Navy, Coast Guard seize smuggled pharmaceuticals and cosmetics in Puttalam
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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