BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, CMC – Devendra Bishoo yesterday pointed to strong team chemistry after West Indies beat Zimbabwe by 117 runs in the opening Test, to claim their third Test win in seven matches.
Bishoo, who ended with a nine-wicket haul match-haul at the spin-friendly Queens Sports Club, said each member of the current unit was hungry for success as well as focussed on moving the team forward.
“Our first plan is to win Test matches. If we can’t win them we try to draw them and I don’t think in any way we are just going about just playing … we want to win,” Bishoo told reporters following the West Indies victory.
He added: “I knew we had the capability. We have Kraigg Brathwaite and Shai Hope who had good series in England, Roston Chase he’s been among the runs for the last year and everybody believes in one another, that is one of the most important things about this group of cricketers. “The team togetherness is really good. Everybody helps one another, they are very comfortable with each other.”
West Indies produced a clinical performance on the fourth day to bowl Zimbabwe out for 316, after the hosts were set an improbable 434 for victory.
Leg-spinner Bishoo finished with a Man-of-the-Match nine-wicket match haul after taking four wickets yesterday, as Zimbabwe collapsed from 99 without loss after lunch. The 31-year-old, who had a difficult recent tour of England where he managed just three wickets in two Tests, said he had been aware his role would have been crucial in this Test. “After the first day when I saw how Zimbabwe were bowling, I know I had to play a big part in this Test match. I knew I would just have to be patient,” he stressed.
The victory came on the heels of the success against Pakistan in Barbados last May and the stunning triumph at Leeds in August.
West Indies face Zimbabwe again in the second Test starting Sunday at the same venue.
