Zimbabwe Gets Consolation

The day belonged to Malcolm Waller who missed a century by just one run after hitting 99 runs following a 112 partnership with Elton Chigumbura to give Zimbabwean cricket fans something to smile about after losing the two Twenty20 matches and two of the three ODIs.

Waller finished on 99 not out off 74 balls as Zimbabwe chased the New Zealand total of 328 for five which included centuries from captain Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson.

The win in the dead rubber which gave the tourists a 2-1 victory comes hard on the heels of the heavy loss to Pakistan in all forms of the game in August.

Zimbabwe captain Brendon Taylor had set the tone for the team with a magnificent 75 runs before Tatenda Taibu hit 57, Elton Chigumbura 47 and Hamilton Masakadza 36 to give Zimbabwe a good chasing run after the tourists had set a target of 328 when Captain Ross Taylor had elected to bat first after winning the toss.

That was as far as major contributions for Zimbabwe came as the likes of Keegan Meth, Vusi Sibanda, and Foster Mutizwa were dismissed for a duck while Natsai Mushangwe could only manage seven runs and Raymond Price only two.

The win, however, should give Zimbabwe some form of confidence ahead of the Test at Queens Sports Club that begins on November 1.

The Zimbabweans have lost both the Twenty20 matches and the ODI Series and are not being given any chance of beating the Black Cats in the Test.

Prior to the New Zealand visit, Zimbabwe were whitewashed by Pakistan having before that, beaten Bangladesh in both the ODIs and the Test that followed.

Zimbabwe is back in Test cricket after six years of absence.