Chevrons elect to bat first against New Zealand in first Test

Brandon Moyo

THE highly anticipated two-match Test series between Zimbabwe and New Zealand gets underway at Queens Sports Club this morning.

This marks the first Test meeting between the Chevrons and the Blackcaps since 2016, when the visitors claimed a 2-0 series win at the same venue in Bulawayo.

Going into this series, New Zealand enjoy an upper hand over Zimbabwe, winning 11 of the 17 Tests. Zimbabwe are yet to taste red-ball victory over the Oceanic nation.

Six matches ended as draws.
Team News:

While the Zimbabwean team has been bolstered by the return of Sikandar Raza, Brian Bennett and Ben Curran, New Zealand go into this Test missing Glenn Philips and the skipper Tom Latham, both ruled out due to injury.

Their white-ball captain Mitch Santner takes over for this Test.
Toss:

Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat first. Craig Ervine says he wants his team to get runs on the board and then get his spinners in the game later on.

He also wants his batting unit to improve its mindset and look to score.
“Sometimes we went into a shell a little bit against South Africa,” he adds.
Teams:

Zimbabwe:
Brian Bennett, Ben Curran, Nick Welch, Sean Williams, Craig Ervine, Sikandar Raza, Tafadzwa Tsiga (wk), Newman Nyamhuri, Vincent Masekesa, Blessing Muzarabani, Tanaka Chivanga

New Zealand:
Devon Conway, Will Young, Henry Nicholls, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wk), Michael Bracewell, Mitch Santner, Nathan Smith, Matt Henry, Will O’Rourke