Conway and Mitchell Steady the Ship as New Zealand Take Control in 1st Test Against Zimbabwe

The 1st Test match between Zimbabwe and New Zealand started on July 30 at the Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo. It was the host’s decision to bat first, but it turned out to be a disaster for the team. Zimbabwe lost early wickets, putting the team under pressure. They lost both the openers on 24 runs, but that wasn’t it. 

The hosts kept losing wickets at regular intervals, which turned out to be a huge disappointment for the team. Captain Craig Ervine (39) and Tafadzwa Tsiga (30) tried to form a partnership, but the Kiwi bowlers were on fire. Matt Henry and Nathan Smith finished off the batting lineup of Zimbabwe, picking up six and three wickets, respectively. Skipper Ervine was the highest run-scorer of the match. 

When New Zealand came out to bat, the openers put up a 92-run partnership before Will Young was dismissed on 41. Later, Conway formed a partnership of 66 runs with Henry Nicholls. But it was thanks to Conway and Daryl Mitchell that New Zealand scored 307 runs in the first innings, taking a lead of 158 runs. 

While Conway scored 88 runs off 170 balls, Mitchell scored 80 runs off 119 balls. The rest of the batters weren’t as impressive as these two. For Zimbabwe, Muzarabani claimed three wickets while Tanaka Chivanga took two wickets. The rest of the bowlers got one wicket each. 

In the second innings, Zimbabwe have already lost two wickets and are trailing by 127 runs. It will be extremely interesting to see how far the game goes. While the match looks well in favour of New Zealand, a strong partnership from anyone can change the course of the game.