The attempt to give this Test series context may ironically have stripped some from this Test match, especially as far as South Africa are concerned. The hosts have already qualified for the World Test Championship final after beating Pakistan by two wickets in Centurion, and as such, don’t necessarily have a bigger picture to play for. However, they have won eight consecutive Test matches at home against Pakistan, and never not won a home series against these opponents, and in that bilateral context, there remains plenty to play for.

In the days since South Africa qualified, there has been some attention towards the perceived softer nature of their draw en route to the World Test Championship, one that their coach Shukri Conrad made “no apologies” for. But with no Test cricket between this Test and the WTC final, South Africa will want to storm into the final in style, and extend a winning run that already stretches to six games.

Pakistan’s WTC hopes had long ago gone up in smoke, but they need to break out of a habit of letting slip winning positions, a habit in this particular cycle. As a result, they have now lost seven of the last nine Tests, and all of the last eight in South Africa. Centurion was the closest they came to breaking that hoodoo, at one stage two wickets away from a stunning win with South Africa still 49 runs away from victory. But, as has been the case with Pakistan too often, they struggled to finish off the tail with the ball, and watched another one slide through their fingers.

Newlands arguably plays slightly more to their strengths, lacking the express pace South Africa possess. It is a surface that both captains expect to take a bit more spin than Centurion, and should revert back to its natural characteristics after a freak Test last year against India that ended in a day and a half. Both sides are expected to field a spinner, while Pakistan’s seam and swing bowlers may find more joy, especially in the early stages of the Test before the surface flattens out. With just two Test wins in South Africa across three decades of playing here, a victory here – and a drawn series – will go down as their most impressive away Test series result in years.

It had taken Zimbabwe 197 overs and over two days to take ten Afghanistan wickets in the opening Test. A few days later, at the same venue, Zimbabwe required just 44.3 overs and less than two sessions to bowl Afghanistan out for 157, and take early control of the second Test in Bulawayo.

Newman Nyarohuri and Sikandar Raza picked three wickets apiece while Blessing Muzarabani got two as none of the Afghanistan batters managed to build on starts. In reply, the Zimbabwe openers Ben Curran and Joylord Gumbie had a tricky three overs to face which they eventually survived.

The conditions were very different at the start of the opening day, with persistent rain greeting the two teams, and the toss delayed by close to four hours.

When the conditions improved, Craig Ervine had no hesitation in bowling first on what his opposite number Hashmatullah Shahidi described as a “spicy pitch”. Zimbabwe made two changes to their playing XI from the first Test, bringing in Richard Ngarava and Raza, while Afghanistan made five changes to their side. That included them handing Test debuts to Fareed Ahmad, Riaz Hassan and Ismat Alam.

The Bulawayo pitch had a green tinge to it, but Blessing Muzarabani and Ngarava failed to extract much movement largely due to them being on the shorter side. The Afghanistan openers Abdul Malik and Riaz Hassan largely looked unhurried, and managed just 25 runs in the first ten overs.

But a moment of brilliance in the field gave the hosts the opening. Riaz pushed a full delivery from Ngarava to the right of point, and set off for a single, only to be sent back by Malik quite late. Riaz, who was almost halfway down the pitch, scurried back, but Bennett sprinted to his right, picked up the ball with one hand, and in one swift motion smashed the stumps at the striker’s end to catch the batter short.

Brief scores:
Zimbabwe 6 for 0 in 3 overs  (Joylord Gumbie 4*, Ben Curran 1*) trail Afghanistan 157 in 44.3 overs (Rashid Khan 25;  Sikandar Raza 3-30, Newman Nyamhuri 3-42, Blessing Muzarabani 2-56) by 151 runs

[Cricinfo]

Ravi Shastri says he would not be shocked if India captain Rohit Sharma retires from Test cricket, but if he is selected for a swansong match he should play with as little baggage as possible as the tourists fight to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and keep their World Test Championship 2025 final hopes alive in Sydney.

Joining Sanjana Ganesan in the latest edition of The ICC Review – a short time before India head coach Gautam Gambhir refused to confirm Sharma’s place in the XI – a frank Shastri said the skipper should play free from inhibitions that have stifled his game during his lean run of form.