Bulawayo Test Day 5: Surviving the Zimbabwean Scare

Phew. That was one close test and to be honest NZ were looking dead and buried going into lunch, with Zimbabwe needing 101 off 29 with 7 wickets in hand.

On looking back, Zimbabwe and Brendan Taylor deserve the highest praise for their attacking cricket on the final day. While a test loss to Zimbabwe would've been hard to swallow, Taylor played the sort of rare innings of counter-attacking brilliance which the opposition just has to admit is too good for them; I wouldn't have been too gutted by a loss. Though Vettori picked up the MoM award, you can't argue Taylor and Kyle Jarvis didn't put up the best individual performances of the game. Kudos to them on an excellent first home season upon their return,.

The Zimbos, it must be said, were aided by a couple of factors: the pitch remained placid, and the bowling was largely insipid for the first couple of sessions. This was, after all, the surface where they chased down 328 in the final ODI. With Jeetan Patel apparently playing as a specialist nightwatchman (he was outbowled by Guptill for chrissakes), NZ effectively had 3 specialist bowlers in this test; and it was not until Bracewell found an extra burst of energy and Vettori's depressingly negative over-the-wicket line yielded results that they clawed their way back.

Ross taylor's captaincy also deserved a thumbs-up for keeping the game alive. The bowlers couldn't live up to his well-timed declaration yesterday, and it is probable once he sensed the game was not heading for a draw he had no option but to attack. Zimbabwe enjoyed some huge slices of luck before tea - especially BJ Watling's disallowed catch off Taylor - so full credit to the skipper for keeping spirits alive when things were going awry. A few quick words on Doug Bracwell - I'm glad NZ finally have a pacer who knows how to bowl at tailenders!

Overall, great game of cricket, who would've thought on day one?. Not NZ's best effort, and they have some serious issues on the bowling front, but overseas wins are rare. We'll take it. Will post a wrap-up of the tour later.