Zimbabwe cling on for draw with West Indies

BULAWAYO: Zimbabwe survived the loss of first innings centurion Gary Ballance and some testing spin bowling from West Indies duo Gudakesh Motie and Roston Chase to cling on for a draw in the first Test in Bulawayo on Wednesday.

Set 272 to win in a minimum of 49 overs after West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite declared their second innings at 203 for five, Zimbabwe staggered to 134 for six before stumps were drawn.

That represented a gritty rearguard from the Zimbabwe lower order after they had slumped to 119 for five with former England batter Ballance edging Chase to wicketkeeper Joshua da Silva for 18.

Any thoughts of chasing down the notional target were long gone with the emphasis shifting to surviving the last 70 balls at the Queens Sports Club.

Brad Evans was dismissed eight balls later for a duck and, having claimed six wickets through Motie and Chase, the tourists sensed a dramatic victory.

But wicketkeeper Tafadzwa Tsiga dug in with a dogged 24 not out off 83 balls while tail-ender Wellington Masakadza saw off 36 deliveries for a vital match-saving nought not out.

The first three innings in the match were all declared with almost 100 overs lost to rain over the first two days.

West Indies opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul was named player of the match for his 207 not out in the first innings, his first Test century.

Ballance also enjoyed a memorable debut for Zimbabwe, marking it with a first innings 137 which made him only the second batsman after Kepler Wessels to score Test centuries for two countries.

Ballance struck four tons for England before his century against the West Indies while South Africa-born Wessels hit four for Australia and two for his homeland.

Motie bowled 24 overs and claimed four for 50 while Chase took two wickets while conceding only nine runs in 12 overs that included six maidens.

The second and final Test starts on Sunday.

Score Board

West Indies won the toss

West Indies first innings 447/6d

Zimbabwe first innings 379/9d

West Indies second innings

Brathwaite lbw Masakadza 25

Chanderpaul b Evans 15

Reifer c&b Masakadza 58

Blackwood c Tafadzwa b Masakadza 57

Chase c Tafadzwa b Evans 14

Mayers not out 17

Da Silva not out 9

Extras: (nb 4, b3, lb1) 8

Total (5 wickets, 60 overs) 203

Did not bat: EHolder, Joseph, Motie, Roach

Fall: 1-32, 2-50, 3-157, 4-174, 1-180

Bowling: Nyauchi 16-5-38-0; Masakadza 23-5-71-3; Evans 12-2-41-2; Mavuta 6-0-30-0; Ngarava 3-0-19-0

Zimbabwe second innings

Kaia c Brathwaite b Motie 24

Makoni c da Silvab Motie 9

Chibhaha c Blackwood b Chase 31

Ervine c da Silva b Motie 17

Balance c da Silva b Chase 18

Tafadzwa not out 24

Evans lbw Motie 0

Masakadza not out 0

Extras: (b8, lb3) 11

Total: (6 wickets, 54 overs ) 134

Fall: 1-14, 2-61, 3-83, 4-83, 5-119; 6-120

Did not bat: Mavuta, Nyauchi, Ngavara

Bowling: Roach: 3-0-16-0; Motie 24-6-50-4; Joseph 5-0-19-0; Holder 5-1-13-0; Brathwaite 4-0-10-0; Chase 12-6-9-2; Mayers 1-0-6-0

Man of the match: Chanderpaul

Umpires: Langton Rusere, Paul Reiffel