A mountain to climb for Zimbabwe
ZIMBABWE were made to toil all day in the field yesterday as West Indies piled on in their second innings of the two teams’ first cricket Test as the tourists stretched their lead to 429 runs and strengthen their grip on the match ahead of the fourth day this morning.
West Indies resumed on an overnight score of 88 for 1 and at stumps were on 369 for 8 and they made their hosts work for the wickets which they got.
For Zimbabwe, the wickets didn’t come frequently enough to cause pressure on the West Indies, who enjoyed a relatively comfortable day in the middle with Kraigg Brathwaite and Roston Chase both getting half centuries.
Chase is staring at a century with 91 not out while Devendra Bishoo (44) lost his wicket with the last ball of the day.
Graeme Cremer’s men were their own worst enemies dropping Brathwaite twice.
For Zimbabwe to win this Test series, they will have to break records with the highest chase to date being the 418 by the West Indies against Australia.
When they come out to bat today, it will be interesting how they will approach this enormous target considering how aggressive they were in their first innings where they folded for 159 in reply’s to West Indies first innings total of 219 all out.
Seamer Kyle Jarvis took two wickets as did Sean Williams while Cremer also took two yesterday in addition to the one he had claimed on day two.
Sikandar Raza was also successful with the ball taking one crucial wicket for Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe squandered an opportunity when Hamilton Masakadza dropped Brathwaite at 61.
Not long after it was Regis Chakabva’s turn to spill, again off Cremer’s bowling after he had brushed Brathwaite’s edge
When lunch arrived, West Indies were 155 for 2 with Brathwaite on 70 not out while Shai Hope had 43.
The second session was an entertaining one as West Indies piled on with Zimbabwe fighting back with four wickets.
Brathwaite was finally dismissed, trapped leg before by Sikandar Raza, having scored 86 runs to leave the tourists on 174 for three.
Shai Hope threatened a half century before Kyle Jarvis snared him on 44 just as he had done to Kyle Hope (43).
Sean Williams got rid of Jermain Blackwood (3) and Shane Dowrich (12) in quick succession with a stumping by Regis Chakabva for the former while Masakadza took the catch for the laters’ wicket.
Zimbabwe: S Mire, H Masakadza, B Taylor, C Ervine, S Williams, S Raza, M Waller, R Chakabva, G Cremer, C Mpofu, K Jarvis.
West Indies: K Brathwaite, K Powell, K Hope, S Hope, R Chase, J Blackwood, S Dowrich, J Holder, D Bishoo, K Roach, S Gabriel
BY KEVIN MAPASURE
