Pitch Report | Tino Mawoyo: Pleasant again, overcast at the start of the day, it's humid though. This batting surface is a good one. It's very dry, not too many indentations. A drying surface, it'll start to misbehave. 

Ervine: It's nice to contribute in a big way. The partnership with Willo (Williamson) set it up and Bennett played outstandingly. Yesterday was special. (On the pitch) It is a docile surface. We have to be patient and disciplined. Straight6 lines, a little bit of up and down with the bounce, hope we can take advantage of it. A lot of credit has to go to the coaching staff and the guys who have worked hard. You could see the hunger in the nets. There's no surprise that it happened in the middle. Right planning and right processes.

09:00 Local Time, 07:00 GMT, 12:30 IST: Hello everyone and a warm welcome to the third day's play of the first Test between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan. On the back of three centuries, Zimbabwe posted their highest-ever Test total on the board. In reply, Afghanistan lost Atal cheaply. Rahmat Shah and Abdul Malik stitched a half-century stand with the former playing some good-looking shots. While Rahmat got a couple of reprieves, Maik was bounced out by Muzarabani. Not a lot of demons on this track but Afghanistan trail by 491 runs. The two most experienced batters for Afghanistan - Rahmat and Shahidi - have got starts and they ought to make it count. Williams created a few opportunities and there's some assistance to keep the spinners excited. It's an early start today to make up for the time lost yesterday to rain and bad light. Let's find out how this Boxing Day Test progresses. Action coming your way in half an hour...

17:05 Local Time, 15:05 GMT, 20:35 IST: As widely expected, that will be Stumps for Day 2 of this Boxing day Test match. Once again it has been the hosts who have dominated, as they notched up their highest ever score in Test cricket. They day started with Craig Ervine getting to a century, and later in the day it was Brian Bennett who got to that three figure mark with some counter attacking cricket. Zimbabwe also got handy contributions from the lower order as Afghanistan’s bowlers looked tired and ready to throw in the towel. In reply, Afghanistan lost Sediq Atal early as he was cleaned up by debutant Trevor Gwandu. It seemed like there was a partnership building before Abdul Malik was bounced out by Muzarabani. Afghanistan have been solid since then, but they have also been helped by the hosts not holding onto some sharp catches. We’ll be back tomorrow to see how this Test proceeds. Bye for now

16:50 Local Time, 14:50 GMT, 20:20 IST: Bad light stops play for the time being. We still have 9 overs to play and about 45 minutes of play left. Let's see if we can get any more cricket if the light situation improves.

Drinks are on the field now.

Brandon Mavuta to Shahidi, FOUR, long hop outside off, Hashmatullah Shahidi punches this through cover point for a boundary

Brandon Mavuta to Rahmat, 1 run, to fine leg

Brandon Mavuta to Rahmat, no run, on a length and spinning away, punched towards covers

Brandon Mavuta to Rahmat, no run, flighted up on off, Rahmat defends

Brandon Mavuta to Shahidi, 1 run, low full toss on leg, glanced towards deep mid-wicket

Brandon Mavuta to Shahidi, FOUR, tossed up on leg, Shahidi shimmies forward and drives this to the left of mid-on for a boundary

Williams to Rahmat, no run, on a length and outside off, punched towards backward point

Williams to Rahmat, FOUR, dropped! short on length onto off, Rahmat tries to cut and gets an edge that flies to the left of first slip. Whizzes past him before he could react and runs away for four

Williams to Rahmat, SIX, straight down the ground

Williams to Rahmat, no run, flat delivery outside off, cut towards backward point

Williams to Rahmat, no run, flighted on fourth stump, driven towards covers

Williams to Rahmat, no run, pushed through onto off stump, defended

Sean Williams [7.0-1-15-0] is back into the attack

Brandon Mavuta to Shahidi, no run, with the arm outside off, pushed towards covers