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Zimbabwe scripted Test history, becoming the first team to score 500+ in both innings of a game. Their 1,027-run aggregate against Afghanistan is the fourth-highest in Tests.
Brendan Taylor was named the Player of the Match (Picture credit: ACB)
Brian Bennett-led Zimbabwe on Monday became the first team in 149 years of Test history to post 500-plus runs in both innings, after they finished with 523/5 in their second innings at the end of the first Test against Afghanistan.
After opting to bat first, Zimbabwe piled up 504 in their first innings, with hundreds from Brendan Taylor and Bennett, complemented by a fifty from Wessly Madhevere (54).
Saleem Safi and Qais Ahmad picked three wickets apiece for Afghanistan.
The hosts responded with 514 in their first innings, powered by hundreds from Sediqullah Atal, Rahmanullah Zadran and captain Rahmat Shah.
In their second innings, Zimbabwe scored 523/5, riding on half-centuries from Taylor, Bennett and Antum Naqvi, a double hundred from Craig Ervine and a hundred from Madhevere.
Zimbabwe’s match aggregate of 1,027 runs is the fourth-highest by any team in Tests. They have also become just the seventh team to cross the 1,000-run mark in a Test.
Zimbabwe’s previous highest aggregate was 885 runs against India in Nagpur in 2000.
Afghanistan-Zimbabwe Test Sets Unique Record With Triple 500-Plus Scores
The Sharjah Test between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe also made history as the first-ever Test to feature three totals in excess of 500. Just two other first-class games have witnessed this feat: the 1948-49 Ranji Trophy semi-final between Maharashtra and Bombay and the 2001 County Championship clash between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire in Derby.
Seven individual hundreds were scored in the Sharjah Test, making it just the 11th men’s Test to witness seven or more centuries. Just two Tests have recorded more, with eight hundreds each in the 2005 Antigua Test between West Indies and South Africa and the 2013 Galle Test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
At 40 years and 272 days, Brendan Taylor became the second-oldest cricketer to win a Player-of-the-Match award in men’s Tests. Graham Gooch holds the record, having earned the honour at 40 years and 314 days after scoring 210 against New Zealand in Nottingham in 1994.
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Ask News18Led by Brian Bennett, Zimbabwe became the first team in 149 years of Test history to score over 500 runs in both innings of a single match, finishing their second innings with 523/5 at Sharjah.
Ask News18November 09, 2026, 23:14 IST
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