Chronicle Editor
Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
WITH the two-match Test cricket contest still 0-0 after the first Test between Zimbabwe and West Indies ended in a draw last Wednesday, the two teams head into battle at Queens Sports Club today with the series there for the taking.
Rain disrupted the first Test, with only 89 overs bowled in the opening two days of the match and both teams will be hoping that nature does not interrupt proceedings.
After seeing their bowlers pick up just 11 wickets in the two West Indies innings, Zimbabwe have made changes to their bowling attack. Out goes Richard Ngarava and Bradley Evans who could only manage two wickets in the first Test, both picked up by the latter. Donald Tiripano, a veteran of 15 Tests which have seen him pick up 26 wickets and score 508 runs with a best score of 95 against Afghanistan will make his 16th Test appearance while Tanaka Chivanga comes in for his Test debut.
Tiripano and Chivanga will team up with Victor Nyauchi and the two spinners, Brandon Mavuta and Wellington Masakadza. With the way the wicket behaved on the last day when Gudakesh Motie picked up four wickets, Mavuta and Masakadza will have a big role to play. In the opening match, both teams managed to break and set their own respective records with the Windies opening partnership of Kraigg Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul setting the record for the highest opening stand for their team. Tagenarine Chanderpaul’s 207 runs not out saw him beat his father, West Indies legend Shivnarine’s unbeaten 203 against South Africa in 2005.
Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul became the first pair to bat on all five days of a Test during their match against Zimbabwe. For the home side, Gary Ballance became only the third Zimbabwean to score a Test ton on debut after Dave Houghton and Hamilton Masakadza and his 137 runs not out is the highest by a debutant for Zimbabwe. He also became the second player in history after Kepler Wessels to score a century for two different countries.
Zimbabwe had five debutants in the first match who all performed well in their respective roles and will be hoping to continue with their form going into today’s match which will be a make-or-break tie for them. The five debutants were Tafadzwa Tsiga, Ballance, Bradley Evans, Tanunurwa Makoni and Innocent Kaia. All of them impressed the team’s batting coach Stuart Matsikenyeri who said he hopes they carry on in the second Test.
On Friday both teams took time to relax out of their regular schedules in the field of play. The Chevrons visited a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre in Bulawayo’s Burnside suburb while their opponents had a training session with Whitestone Primary School’s cricket team in the same area.
The two teams returned to normal business yesterday, hosting their final training sessions at the match venue ahead of the much anticipated second Test match. Having played in a rather flat pitch in the first match that offered nothing for the bowlers in the opening stages, it remains to be seen how the one for the second match will turn out. Matsikenyeri said they have things to polish up going into the match and will look at continuing to improve with every game they play.
“There is always space and places to improve, every day and every series we play we are looking to polish up with techniques in certain spaces but the Zimbabwe cricket team at the moment has been about getting an attitude towards winning and we just want to continue improving in attitude,” he said.
Brathwaite said there will be a lot to play for in the match as their aim is to win the series which will ensure their continued Test dominance over Zimbabwe.
“There is a lot to play for in the last Test and everyone is looking to win the series so we will have to plan for the second game, we can’t take anything for granted,” he said.
Zimbabwe and West Indies have met each other 11 times in the longest format of the game with seven wins for the Caribbean side and zero for the Zimbabweans while four of those matches have ended in draws. -@brandon_malvin
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