Rahmat Shah became only the second double centurion from Afghanistan, setting a new national record during the first Test against Zimbabwe. Two days later, Hashmatullah Shahidi broke his record to reclaim the top spot.
Rahmat put on a 364-run stand with Hashmatullah Shahidi for the third wicket, the other Afghanistan Test double centurion, as the visitors put up a strong fightback to Zimbabwe's first-innings score of 586. Rahmat eventually departed on 234, breaking Shahidi's all-time record for Afghanistan. Two days later, Shahidi reclaimed the record by going past Rahmat.
Rahmat also became the first Afghanistan player to hit multiple hundreds in Test cricket, before he was joined on that list by Shahidi. Shahidi went on to become the first-ever Afghanistan player to hit two double centuries in Test cricket, having hit an unbeaten 200* against the same opponent in the 2021 Abu Dhabi Test.
The third day was also first time since 2019 that a whole day's play went without a wicket being taken.
With rain affecting the fourth day, Afghanistan continued the grind well into day five. Wicketkeeper Afsar Zazai took the centurion count in the match up to six with his 113 at No.5. At lunch on day five, Shahidi was unbeaten on 236, with Afghanistan on 656-4, a lead of 70 runs.
Highest individual score for each team, full list
Player | Score | Team | Year |
Brian Lara | 400 | West Indies | 2004 |
Matthew Hayden | 380 | Australia | 2003 |
Mahela Jayawardene | 374 | Sri Lanka | 2006 |
Len Hutton | 364 | England | 1938 |
Hanif Mohammad | 337 | Pakistan | 1958 |
Virender Sehwag | 319 | India | 2008 |
Hashim Amla | 311* | South Africa | 2012 |
Brendon McCullum | 302 | New Zealand | 2014 |
Dave Houghton | 266 | Zimbabwe | 1994 |
Hashmatullah Shahidi | 236* | Afghanistan | 2024 |
Mushfiqur Rahim | 219* | Bangladesh | 2018 |
Kevin O'Brien | 118 | Ireland | 2018 |
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