Brendan Taylor followed his first-innings 119 with a 50 in the second dig as Zimbabwe took further control of the second Test against Afghanistan, taking their lead to 291 runs at the end of Day 3.
Like the previous day, Afghanistan had brief spells of joy throughout and yet ended up conceding ground to their opponents. They began the day with their backs to the wall on 159/6 and were quickly bundled out for 217. Naseer Khan and Afsar Zazai couldn't push the fight for too long, though they batted together for 118 deliveries. Graeme Cremer broke that alliance by dismissing Naseer, after which the Afghanistan essay collapsed.
Vincent Masekesa added two more wickets to his tally, finishing with figures of 4-54. Zazai, one of those scalps, top-scored for Afghanistan with 63 which allowed his team to limp past the 200-run mark.
Zimbabwe still went into their second dig with a sizeable lead and had Taylor helm it once more. A diving take from Ikram Alikhil behind the stumps brought Afghanistan's first breakthrough, dismissing opener Ben Curran. For the next couple of wickets, Zimbabwe consolidated on their lead as Taylor added 33 with Innocent Kaia, and then worth 55 with Brian Bennett.
Afghanistan trio Yamin Ahmadzai, Mohammad Saleem Safi and Ziaur Rahman Sharifi put the brakes by picking two wickets each but Zimbabwe finished the day on 169/7, taking their lead to 291.
