Afghanistan 157 and 291 for 7 (Rahmat 139, Ismat 64*, Muzarabani 4-71) lead Zimbabwe 243 for 205 runs
On the second day, which saw 13 wickets fall, Afghanistan conceded an 86-run first innings lead to Zimbabwe and lost three wickets before erasing even half the deficit.
Afghanistan’s innings revolved around two partnerships. The first was a 67-run stand between Rahmat and Shahidullah that saw the visitors take a 50-run lead when it was broken.
The pair came together after Afghanistan lost two wickets in the first hour of play while still 17 runs behind.
From the way Rahmat started the day, it was evident that he wanted to fight hard to put Afghanistan in a winning position. He played 19 balls before scoring the first run with his bat of the day.
Ngarava removed night watchman Zia-ur-Rehman off the next ball and dismissed Afsar Zazai soon after.
This led to Rahmat taking the initiative and punishing two consecutive bad balls from Muzarabani (a full toss and a half-volley) with shots down the ground to score boundaries.
A brief rain delay followed, after which the two played singles until Afghanistan took the lead in the 30th over.
Rahmat and Shahidullah took on Sikandar Raza and Newman Nyamhuri for two boundaries in the next two overs before Rahmat scored a half-century off 99 balls. The boundaries kept coming as the two trudged towards lunch with a 39-run lead.
In the fourth over after tea, a clever captaincy move led to Shahidullah’s downfall.
With Muzarabani testing him outside off from around the wicket, Craig Ervine brought in a silly fielder and on the next delivery, Shahidullah fended off a long ball in the corridor to offer the simplest of chances to Takudzwanashe Kaitano at a silly point.
Zimbabwe knew it had to seize the opportunity and tighten the screws on Afghanistan.
Ismat, who was out without scoring in the first innings, took a hit on the helmet trying to avoid a Muzarabani bouncer who stayed low and needed multiple checks from the physio over the next few overs.
Rahmat survived an lbw chance when Raza, who toiled for 23 wicketless overs on the day, got one to turn sharply to hit his pad only for the umpire to wave it off. Rahmat responded by dancing down the track and bowling it down the ground for a boundary before being hit on the shoulder by a short ball from Ngarava.
But the two were unfazed and continued to steadily increase Afghanistan’s lead. Rahmat brought up his century with a single off Nyamhuri off 209 balls, following up his double in the first Test.
Ismat, who was 16 for 46 at that point, then began to shift gears with two boundaries off Nyamhuri before tea.
After tea, there were 11 consecutive spins but Raza and Bennett could not break through or keep the scoring rate down to apply pressure.
As soon as the new ball became available, Zimbabwe found some immediate opportunities. Ngarava took advantage of Ismat but was bowled by Ervine at first slip, three runs short of his fifty. One later, Ismat rose half a century.
The set’s batsmen used the extra pace of the new ball to cash in for a few more boundaries before Muzarabani finally broke the stand for 132, the highest for Afghanistan’s seventh wicket.
Muzarabani got a long ball that went around Rahmat’s inside edge and hit his back. Rahmat was not very happy when the umpire ruled him out in the previous leg, but with no DRS available in this series, he had to return after a marathon innings.
Rashid then quickly moved to 12 off the same number of deliveries, hitting Nyamhuri through mid-wicket to score what turned out to be the last ball of the day before the bowlers were rained out.
Abhimanyu Bose is Deputy Editor of ESPNcricinfo
