Zimbabwe Beat Afghanistan Only Test 2025 Harare: Win by Innings and 73 Runs — First Home Test Win Since 2013, Ngarava 5/37, Ben Curran 121

Zimbabwe beat Afghanistan by an innings and 73 runs in the only Test of the Afghanistan tour of Zimbabwe, played at Harare Sports Club from October 20–22, 2025 — ending a 12-year wait for Zimbabwe's first home Test victory since 2013 and recording their biggest-ever Test win. The result also marked Zimbabwe's first innings victory in Tests since 2001 — over two decades of Test cricket without an innings win at home — making this one of the most significant results in Zimbabwe cricket's recent history. The match was decided inside three days, with Zimbabwe dominating all three major phases of the match: their first-innings batting under pressure, their first-innings bowling to dismiss Afghanistan for 127, and their second-innings bowling to dismiss Afghanistan again for 159 and claim the innings result that their 359-run total had made possible. Day 1 of the Test established the match pattern. Zimbabwe batted first and scored 359 — a competitive total against any opposition and particularly against Afghanistan's spin-dominated attack. Ben Curran scored 121 to anchor Zimbabwe's innings after Afghanistan's Ziaur Rahman took 7/97 — an exceptional bowling performance that threatened to restrict Zimbabwe to a modest total, but ultimately could not prevent Zimbabwe from building a 359 total through Curran's anchor innings and contributions from Sikandar Raza (65) and other middle-order batters. Brad Evans then dismissed Afghanistan for 127 in their first innings, taking 5/22 in a spell of controlled seam bowling that exposed Afghanistan's vulnerabilities against good-length deliveries with movement. Evans' 5/22 — a devastating opening innings spell — gave Zimbabwe a 232-run first-innings lead and put them in a position of match dominance from Day 1. Afghanistan's second innings of 159, compiled over the first three hours of Day 3, required Richard Ngarava — Zimbabwe's left-arm fast bowler — to take 5/37 in his first five-wicket haul in Tests. Muzarabani supported with 3/48 and Chivanga added 2/40 as Afghanistan were dismissed for 159, falling 73 runs short of avoiding the innings defeat. Zimbabwe needed no second innings and won by an innings and 73 runs in less than three days — their first home Test win since 2013, their first innings win since 2001, and their biggest Test victory.

Ngarava's 5/37: First Five-Wicket Haul and Zimbabwe's 12-Year Wait Ends

Richard Ngarava's 5/37 in Afghanistan's second innings at Harare — the bowling performance that sealed Zimbabwe's innings-and-73-run victory — was the defining bowling moment of the match and the most significant personal milestone of Ngarava's Test career to that point. Ngarava, Zimbabwe's left-arm fast bowler who relies on pace, angle, and the ability to swing the ball across right-handed batters, took his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket in the second innings that gave Zimbabwe their match-winning result, dismissing Afghanistan for 159 in less than three hours of play on the match's third morning. His five wickets across the innings confirmed Zimbabwe's ability to bowl out opposition batting lineups on Harare surfaces where the pitch's slower pace and variable bounce can assist both spin and seam bowling once the pitch has been in use for three days. Zimbabwe's 12-year wait for a home Test win — stretching from their previous home Test victory in 2013 to this result in October 2025 — reflected both the fluctuating quality of Zimbabwe's Test cricket program and the challenges of competing consistently in bilateral Test series against higher-ranked opposition. The Afghanistan tour of Zimbabwe brought a more evenly-matched Test fixture, and Zimbabwe seized the opportunity to secure their first home win since 2013 with a comprehensive 3-day result. Ngarava's match-winning 5/37 was supported throughout by Muzarabani (3/48 in Afghanistan's second innings) and Evans (5/22 in Afghanistan's first innings) — together forming the bowling attack that took Zimbabwe's 20 wickets across the match to secure one of the most significant results in Zimbabwe's recent Test history.

Curran's 121 and Zimbabwe's Batting Resilience Against Ziaur's 7/97

Ben Curran's 121 in Zimbabwe's first innings of 359 — scored while Ziaur Rahman took 7/97 — was the critical batting contribution that prevented Afghanistan's exceptional spin bowling from restricting Zimbabwe to a total insufficient for an innings result. Ziaur Rahman's 7/97 was the best individual bowling performance of the match and would typically result in a batting collapse — but Curran's century provided Zimbabwe with an anchor innings that held the batting order together while wickets fell at the other end. Curran, batting with composure despite Zimbabwe losing wickets regularly to Ziaur's spin, reached 121 and allowed Zimbabwe to pass 300 and reach 359 — a total large enough to put Zimbabwe in a position of match dominance against Afghanistan's batting lineup. Sikandar Raza's 65 provided Curran with the best partnership contribution in Zimbabwe's first innings, adding substance in the middle order to supplement Curran's anchor role. Zimbabwe's 359 against Ziaur Rahman's 7/97 demonstrated batting resilience that Zimbabwe needed to turn a competitive bowling performance in Afghanistan's first innings (Evans' 5/22) into a match-winning innings result. The combination of Curran's 121 anchoring the batting, Evans' 5/22 collapsing Afghanistan in their first innings to 127, and Ngarava's 5/37 sealing the second innings at 159 produced Zimbabwe's most complete Test match performance in over a decade.