Black Caps close in on test victory

Mehluli Sibanda in BULAWAYOLEFT-HANDED batsman, Craig Ervine, struck a lovely maiden unbeaten century while Peter Moor and Chamunorwa Chibhabha also made their first half tons in the longer version of the game to give Zimbabwe a glimmer of hope against New Zealand on the third day of the second cricket Test at Queens yesterday.

Leg-spinner Sodhi grabbed two of the final four wickets to record figures of four for 60, as Zimbabwe’s innings was brought to an end in the final half-hour before lunch.

All six of Williamson’s bowlers took wickets in the second innings in Bulawayo as they sealed a 2-0 series win, and the skipper was full of praise for all his options.

Although first-innings centurion Tom Latham, with 13, and Martin Guptill, with 11, both fell early, Williamson and Ross Taylor blasted unbeaten scores of 68 and 67 before declaring. For the majority of the first session, Craig Ervine (27) and Donald Tiripano (22) resisted from playing the big shots and saw out the overs with a diligent approach.

Four overs later, Graeme Cremer (1) was given out LBW against Guptill, even though the replays indicated an inside edge.

New Zealand now head to South Africa for a two-test series starting in Durban on August 19.

“There were some really good things that we can take into that series”, Williamson told reporters on Wednesday.

Williamson was pleased with the way his spinners came through after the seamers and the batsmen set the match up in the three previous innings. “It was a little bit slower than the first surface and it was breaking up”, he assessed. “(But) it will be a huge challenge for them to bat on a tiring wicket tomorrow”.

Ish Sodhi finished with four wickets, as New Zealand bowled Zimbabwe out for 362 yesterday, but the Black Caps opted against enforcing the follow-on. The hosts went into that game after a 20-month hiatus from Test cricket.

“The guys showed good fight in this test”, he said, at the end of his first series in charge, and Zimbabwe’s first since 2014.

“There were a couple that were a bit soft again here but we were prepared to grind out tough sessions and bat time”.

Bowling: Southee 14-7-35-1, Boult 12-4-26-1, Wagner 12-5-23-1, Santner 12-4-15-1, Sodhi 11.4-5-19-3, Guptill 7-4-11-3.

Victory gives New Zealand a superb start to their overseas tour, the Black Caps now heading to South Africa for another two-Test series.