adminMehluli Sibanda in BULAWAYO
LEFT-HANDED batsman, Craig Ervine, struck a beautiful 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.
Ervine walked in to bat when Zimbabwe were in trouble at 83-2 in the 46th over and batted for 306 minutes to score 115 runs in 213 balls, smashing 15 fours for his maiden hundred in his ninth Test as he put on 148 runs for the sixth wicket with Peter Moor who made 71.
Opener Chibhabha contributed 60 as Zimbabwe made 305 for the loss of six wickets in 120 overs.
Zimbabwe trail New Zealand, who made 582 for four declared in their first innings, by 277 runs with four first innings wickets remaining.
The home team still requires 78 more runs to avoid the follow on.
Zimbabwe went into day three on 55 without loss in 30 overs, the opening bating pair of Tino Mawoyo and Chibhabha out in the middle.
Mawoyo was bowled by Tim Southee for 26 and was soon followed by Sikandar Raza who perished for three.
Further wickets of Chibhabha, Sean Williams and Prince Masvaure followed as Zimbabwe were reduced to 147 for five.
Ervine, however, withstood the pressure from the New Zealand bowlers. He got his maiden Test hundred with a boundary through the covers off the bowling of Tim Southee, getting to the big milestone having faced up to 178 balls, in 269 minutes at the crease during which he put away 15 fours.
Moor fell just before the close of play when he pulled leg spinner Inderbir Sodhi straight into the hands of Martin Guptil to bring his maiden Test innings to its end which lasted saw him face 125 deliveries and score 10 fours. Ervine was delighted with finally scoring the hundred after being dismissed for 50 in the second innings of the first Test which had been his previous highest score in the prolonged version of the game.
“I am ecstatic about the hundred, just little milestones to build on from the last Test but obviously there is still a lot of work to do in this Test match so tomorrow is a new day, a new start, I just got to do more of the same thing tomorrow.
“It has always been a dream of mine to get a Test hundred now to have gotten it its a lot of relief, lot of weight off the shoulders, hopefully this is just a start of more to come,’’ said Ervine.
Sodhi and left-arm spinner Mitchel Santner finished the day with two wickets apiece with the duo of slow bowlers expected to play a big part if New Zealand are to bowl Zimbabwe out early into today’s play.
Ervine has skipper Graeme Cremer for company at the crease and the two have spend long periods of time in the middle to further frustrate the Kiwis when the contest heads into its penultimate day this morning.
Scores
New Zealand 582-4 declared 150 overs (Latham 136, Taylor 124*, Williamson 113, Guptil 87, Watling 83*, Williams 1-62)
Zimbabwe 305- 6 120 overs (Ervine 115, Moor 71, Chibhabha 60, Sodhi 2-41, Santner 2-102) Zimbabwe trail by 277 runs with four wickets remaining in the first innings
Online Reporter