AS was largely feared from the beginning, the Test cricket series between Zimbabwe and the West Indies in Bulawayo petered out to a familiar ending as the visitors claimed a huge win with two days to spare on Tuesday.
The Chevrons head coach Dave Houghton, who has transformed the side in the limited overs games since his appointment last year, will definitely not be pleased with the way the script unfolded in Bulawayo where the hosts struggled to cope with the quality of their opponents in the absence of some of their key players.
The gulf between Zimbabwe and the rest of the traditional Test nations has always shown in the five-day game and it was again laid bare in the second Test that ended in three days on Tuesday with an innings and four runs defeat.
This game could have easily turned out to be a two-day Test match if it was not for the rain interruptions.
Zimbabwe were so poor in the second Test, largely due to the home team’s frail batting. They could not replicate the decent fight they put up in the first game, in which the teams settled for a draw after losing considerable hours due to rain delays.
The team was exposed big time when Gary Ballance, whose century in the first Test was the major difference, was ruled out of the second game due to recurring migraine headaches.
The visitors dominated all-round and despite labouring to a total of 292, they still claimed an innings victory, thanks to the sensational bowling by Gudakesh Motie.
The left-arm spinner skittled Zimbabwe in both innings and finished with outstanding match figures of 13 wickets for 99 runs. He had sensational returns of 7/37 and 6/62 in the second game.
Zimbabwe were dismissed for a paltry 115 runs and could not force the visitors to bat again after they slipped to 173 all out in their second innings.
Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine lamented the miserable batting as their biggest let down.
“I thought winning the toss we needed to bat well on the first day but that didn’t go according to plan and that put us on the back foot from the start,” said Ervine.
Despite the frustrations faced by the batsmen, Innocent Kaia continued showing glimpse with a high score of 38 runs for Zimbabwe in the first innings and then 43 in the second. Zimbabwe captain Ervine’s 72 runs in the second innings were not enough to lift his side.
“It’s always nice to get runs but it didn’t contribute much to the cause. It is difficult (to prepare for Tests with limited preparations), we had about 7-10 days of training leading to this series and some domestic game time. We can’t use all this as an excuse to be honest,” said Ervine.
The Chevrons, who had last played a Test match way back in July 2021 against Bangladesh in Harare, were returning to the format for the first time in almost two years.
Zimbabwe had largely a depleted side for the series, with a squad comprising as many as seven uncapped players going into the contest.
The Chevrons were missing regular captain Sean Williams and pacemen Tendai Chatara and Blessing Muzarabani due to injuries while all-rounders Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl had been excused to play franchise cricket abroad.
Experienced wicketkeeper/batsman Regis Chakabva, who has since relocated to Australia, was also not part of the squad and a new wicketkeeper, Tafadzwa Tsiga, had to step in.
This was a huge test of the team’s depth. Most of the time the national team selectors don’t have the luxury of picking different teams for different formats and their lack of depth hurt them during this series.
Houghton gave opportunities to a number of players, including former captain Chamu Chibhabha, who was returning to the Test fold after five years, but the batters, especially, could not cope with the quality of their West Indies opponents.
Milton Shumba, Tanunurwa Makoni and Tsiga did not contribute much as well.
Zimbabwe made three changes to their starting team for the second Test with Shumba, Donald Tiripano and debutant Tanaka Chivanga coming in the place of Ballance and fast bowlers Richard Ngarava and Brad Evans.
The absence of Ballance, who scored an unbeaten 137 on his debut for the country of his birth in the drawn first Test match last week, was largely felt as he was not available for selection for the second Test after failing to fully recover from migraine headaches.
“Gary Ballance is such an experienced player, he brought stability. He left a big hole in the middle order,” said Ervine.
But amid the frustrations, some players, who have mostly been fringe personnel, showed someglimpses of excellence. Kaia was Zimbabwe’s highest run getter with 172 runs to his name, followed by Ballance’s 155.
The performance gained him 15 places on the ICC Test batting rankings released yesterday to number 81.
Ervine also moved 15 places up to 41st for the 124 runs he scored during the series.
Leg spinner Brendan Mavuta and Victor Nyauchi were among the top performers with the ball after recording their maiden five-wicket hauls.
Nyauchi was rewarded by 18 places up the ladder following his 5/56 in the second innings of the second Test while Mavuta’s nine wickets during the series lifted him nine places to 81. Wellington Masakadza also moved up four places to 92nd after contributing five wickets.
“They (Mavuta and Nyauchi) have been brilliant,” said Ervine.
“It’s been nice to see them develop. We have our domestic T20 comp coming up soon, so we need to get our focus to that one.”
Emerging West Indies spinner Motie, who announced himself with 19 wickets in two Tests against Zimbabwe, surged 77 places to be ranked 46th after only three Tests.
Motie’s 13-wicket haul in the second match bettered the previous best Test match return by a West Indian spinner of 11-152 from Sonny Ramadhin against England when they won at Lord’s for the first time in 1950.
West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite also rose in the batting rankings as the West Indies opener moved four spots to 21st after notching 182 runs in the first Test against Zimbabwe.
His opening partner Tagenarine Chanderpaul made an even bigger leap, as the 26-year-old climbed 28 spots to 58th after his career milestone 207* in the same Test.
The Zimbabwean players now shift focus to the Domestic T20 cricket tournament which begins next week.
The traditional five franchises Tuskers, Mountaineers, Mid-West Rhinos, Southern Rocks and defending champions Eagles are set to be joined by National Premier League Blast T20 club champions Lions for this year’s edition. The tournament is set to run from next Monday with the final set for the following Sunday, February 26.
The matches will be played at Harare Sports Club and Old Hararians Sports Club and entrance will be free at the gates.
Zimbabwe’s next international assignments will be a three-match ODI home series against the Netherlands next month. – The Herald
