Zimbabwe are staring down the barrel at the end of Day 1 of the first Test against New Zealand at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Wednesday, July 30.
Craig Ervine won the toss and opted to bat first. However, Matt Henry dismissed openers Brian Bennett and Ben Curran with the new ball. Nathan Smith joined the party in the 12th over, as he sent Sean Williams packing. Nick Welch became the third victim of Henry after scoring a patient 27 off 68 balls.
Ervine tried to resurrect the ship by playing a gritty 39-run knock off 116 balls. However, Sikandar Raza couldn’t impress with the bat, managing only a couple of runs. Ervine and Tafadzwa Tsiga added a 54-run stand off 140 balls to take the hosts beyond the 100-run mark after they had lost half their side for 69.
The tailenders couldn’t contribute much after Tsiga was dismissed for 30 in the 53rd over. Zimbabwe were rolled over for 149 in 60.3 overs. Henry was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with figures of 6/39 in 15.3 overs. Smith also provided great support as he bagged a three-for.
New Zealand opened the batting with Will Young and Devon Conway. The task wasn’t going to be easy, as there was enough in the track to keep the bowlers interested. Young and Conway had a few close escapes, but they also kept the scoreboard moving with some proactive batting.
In the end, the Black Caps raced to 92/0 in 26 overs at Stumps. While Young finished unbeaten on 41 (69), Conway amassed 51 off 87 balls. New Zealand will try to bat only once in the Test match by registering a huge first-innings lead. The Zimbabwean players could be in for a leather hunt on Thursday, as a strong Kiwi batting side takes centre stage. The tourists trail Zimbabwe’s first-innings score by just 57 runs with all 10 wickets intact.
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