[MATCH THREAD] 2nd Test Afghanistan v Zimbabwe @Abu Dhabi

[jaybro]

The Zimbabwe openers did well yesterday, all we could ask for really. Got to stumps and put on the board, looking at the scorecard it's a 10/10 so far, BUT they both looked pretty tentative against the spinners and to be honest they don't look like they're picking Rashid at all. Kasuza got lucky when he was dropped at mid wicket by Amir Hamza, and Prince also was lucky a couple of times against Rashid.

As Sloan said the openers need to try and bat through the entire next session, I'm not really fussed about the runs, but on the deck like this they'll come anyways. The key to Zimbabwe's innings is to make Hamza & Rashid bowl over 40 overs each, by that stage they'll be tired and the guys coming later in the order like Wes, Raza, Burl & Regis can then capitalise like Jamal did when he came in.

In respect to dealing with Rashid, the guys did pretty good and I think he can be tamed, he only looked dangerous when he found the perfect length, anything slightly full or short the guys played him easily. I feel the pitch will continue to play really well Days 3 & 4 and we won't see it really start to misbehave until Day 5. Zim need to make sure Afghanistan are batting on Day 5, even if it's not the entire day, they just need to make sure the Afghanistan guys need runs on Day 5 as well.

If Zimbabwe can get through the 1st session in good shape I think they'll reap the rewards in the last two sessions, they just need to avoid losing quick wickets and build partnerships like the Afghan boys did, the runs will come easy after the 100 over mark, they just need to still be batting with wickets in hand by then.

[TapsC2]

Big big day. 1 hour at a time. We need to psychologically wear them out. That’s what their double centurion did. We need to make them not believe they can take 20 wickets. They must work for every single wicket. In the end the pressure is on them to win. Hopefully they still need another 15 wickets by the end of the day

[Marshmallow]

How much runs we want to avoid follow on?

[zimlover]

My thoughts are Zim batters need to start playing some shots and stop blocking everything, this pitch is very flat and the Spinners are not getting any assistance but with time it may start to wear out, the more you block the higher the chances of nicking one or a edge

Preferably they should start in first session and play positively and play some shots, non of this blocking and blocking stuff, put them under pressure by playing shots, get some runs its a flat pitch.

The pitch will probably start playing up ,late on day 4, today is a perfect day to bat.

[CrimsonAvenger]

The scoring rate and opportunities taken in those 17 overs yesterday evening seems fine for the first session this morning as well. We need not be overly aggressive too. Post lunch, we can ease into quicker scoring if we have preserved wickets in the first session.

[grant]

I wonder what happened to Mohammad Shahzad the wicket keeper? Anyone know where he went? The guy couldn't shut his mouth to save his life.

Didn't he get banned?

Nicely done openers.

He was/is so incredibly over rated it's scary. Believed his onw myth more than anybody else I've seen.
He was arrogant, loud and an average cricketer. For somebody as over weight as he is I find it amazing how ballsy he sounded on the pitch

I think he's underrated. He was their best batsman by a mile, just needed to get fitter. He's been mistreated a lot by the Afghan team's management. He's not the sharpest tool in the box though. That is one of the reasons why he seems to be universally hated. But he's actually a pretty good guy.

He may be well past his prime now though since Afghan cricketers seem to be a decade older than the age they state.

[grant]

Masvaure and Kasuza don't seem well-equipped to make full use of the conditions IMO. I would like to see them bat positively, but at the same time, not take risks. I'm not sure if they're capable of doing that though. I hope they prove me wrong.

[Kriterion_BD]

Masvaure and Kasuza don't seem well-equipped to make full use of the conditions IMO. I would like to see them bat positively, but at the same time, not take risks. I'm not sure if they're capable of doing that though. I hope they prove me wrong.

They look to be doing fine right now. I expected them both to be in the hut quite a while ago. Surprised to see their techniques look quite solid against the spinners.

Also, has Prince lost weight? He doesn't seem any less fit than Taylor right now.

[Jemisi]

oh dear

[Mr Twig]

Damn, could've left that. Decent start.