Zimbabwe 379 for 9 dec (Ballance 137*, Kaia 67, Joseph 3-75) and 134 for six (Chibhabha 31, Tsiga 24, Motie 4-50, Chase 2-9) drew with West Indies 447 for six dec (Chanderpaul 207*, Brathwaite 182, Mavuta 5-140) and 203 for five dec (Reifer 58, Blackwood 57, Masakadza 3-71, Evans 2-41)
However, Gary Ballance and Tsiga adopted a measured method and helped Zimbabwe get nearer to security. West Indies tried plenty of issues, which included Jason Holder resorting to bowling offbreaks however the duo stood agency for 19 overs. Chase then produced the breakthrough when he strangled Ballance down the leg facet and within the subsequent over Motie trapped Brad Evans in entrance. But Tsiga remained resolute, whereas Wellington Masakadza confronted 36 balls with out scoring earlier than the 2 groups shook arms because the opening Test resulted in a stalemate.
Evans claimed his maiden Test wicket when he burst by the defences of Chanderpaul within the ninth over of the day. From across the wicket, he bought one to jag one again into the left-hander, who performed away from the physique, because the ball took a skinny inside edge and pegged again his center stump. Soon after, Masakadza pinned Brathwaite in entrance for the second time within the Test.
Blackwood batted with a extra defensive mindset and even didn’t put away a number of brief deliveries early in his innings. He bought his first boundary away through a backside edge by the wicketkeeper’s legs however quickly gained confidence, slamming a six and 4 within the final over earlier than lunch. Ervine rang within the adjustments however each Reifer and Blackwood appeared pretty comfy on the crease as the 2 moved into lunch unbroken with West Indies 199 forward.
The batters upped the scoring charge after the break, getting three fours within the first three overs. Reifer reached his maiden Test fifty with a tough pull by midwicket, whereas Blackwood quickly bought to his seventeenth quickly after. The two additionally introduced up the 100-run stand in fast time and it turned obvious that West Indies have been searching for a declaration in some unspecified time in the future within the session.
Masakadza then eliminated each Reifer and Blackwood in fast succession earlier than Evans had Chase nicking off to the wicketkeeper. The third umpire needed to be referred to as for with the on-field tender sign being not out. But, replays clearly advised that the ball had taken the skin fringe of Chase’s bat whereas additionally hitting the bottom concurrently.
Kyle Mayers and Da Silva bought a number of boundaries away with West Indies declaring an hour into the second session and setting Zimbabwe 272 in 49 overs. Zimbabwe’s openers got here out to bat quickly after the thick clouds that have been build up introduced some rain and stopped play. It turned out to be a delay of about 25 minutes because the gamers took an early tea within the interim and no overs have been misplaced.
Source web site: www.espncricinfo.com
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