Published: Jul 31, 2016, 12:34 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 31, 2016, 12:39 PM (IST)
Day 3 at Bulawayo saw New Zealand take firm grip of proceedings against the hosts Zimbabwe as they declared at 576-6 in their first innings after hundreds from BJ Watling and Ross Taylor made Zimbabwe bowlers toil. The New Zealand innings saw three centurions and the home side clearly struggled to take wickets. Tom Latham was among the centurions. Captain Kane Williamson had also fell 9 runs short of his hundred. All in all, Day 3 belonged to New Zealand, more so because Trent Boult’s 3 wickets and one each for Tim Southee and Neil Wagner, had added to the havoc created by the New Zealand batsmen. Day 4 therefore, might offer some more one-sided cricket as the visitors look set for a 1-0 lead. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: Zimbabwe vs New Zealand, 1st Test match
New Zealand’s bowlers came hard at the Zimbabwe batsmen in the second innings as well. Southee had Hamilton Masakadza caught at slip in the first over and Boult went on the rampage. The left-arm pacer bowled Brian Chari in his first over. He followed it up by dismissing Chamu Chibhabha and Prince Masvaure with consecutive deliveries in his second. READ: BJ Watling equals Brendon McCullum’s record of most Test tons for New Zealand
Craig Ervine and Sikandar Raza responded with an entertaining counterattack that saw them put on 69 for the fifth wicket in just nine overs, but Wagner ended the fun when he dismissed Raza for 37 with a short ball.
The Zimbabweans were left staring down the barrel of an innings defeat, as the debilitating effects of not playing a Test since November 2014 became increasingly clear.
“It’s never easy when its stop-start like that, but you can’t use that as a reason for the way we’ve played in this game,” said Masakadza. “In the second innings, the guys got some good balls. The first innings was really poor, a lot of soft dismissals, and that’s why we are in the position we are in,” he added.
(With inputs from AFP)
